eWeek Magazine: Trustworthy Voting (nice BBV slam)

[KTM]

eWeek magazine is a magazine aimed at IT managers, put out by Ziff Davis publications. It says it has a circulation of 410,000 and I can attest to the fact that I find it in many a geeks office.

In my August 4th edition, in a big eye-catching Opinions section, I was suprised to see this strong statement, which insists a paper trail is required for electronic voting, and denounces the use of proprietary code. It's a nice read, and will reach a lot of eyes (although it is somewhat preaching to the choir).

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1209892,00.asp

"We believe in the power of software and its ability to execute daunting tasks. However, we are also aware that all software has flaws and that, sooner or later, these flaws will appear. Because of this, there are some tasks for which software alone should not be trusted. The process of voting in electoral contests is one of them."

-snip-

"We believe that software should be only part of the election process. We agree with security researchers at www. verifiedvoting.org who argue that there must be a paper audit trail in any election."

-snip-

"If these software-based voting systems stay in place, it is likely that a flaw will be exploited to change the results of an election—making Florida in 2000 look like a minor occurrence. As technology professionals, we must make sure our congressional representatives understand the serious problems presented by these software-based voting systems"