NO to internet voting in WA state!!!

[eridani]

NO Internet voting!

Tell The WA Legislature and Secy-of-State Sam Reed, to deep-six the proposal for Internet Voting. Not even as a special case for special voters. HB1624 & SB 5522 must be withdrawn.

I am a powerful aficionado of the internet, and of the power of computers. I operate many discussion lists and several websites. No curmudgeon or troglodyte, am I.

But in NO WAY can I concur with voting via the internet - or any similar means of electronic communications! They are all inherently insecure and not private. I even testified against the once-proposed "Project SERVE", to a US panel about 6-8 years ago, and the Feds dropped the proposal. I have to believe that all the knowledgeable folks who raised objections and questions, were convincing.

So now, why does Sam Reed, WA State Secretary of State and the chief elections officer of the state, propose this again?

One hacker/insider could do either or both of two horrible acts:
* interfere with the voting data being sent - the ballots - in any number of ways;
* gain the knowledge of how the voter voted, and use that information in any number of malicious ways.

No i-voting.

No DRE-voting.

V.V.P.B. Only.

My friend in Brazil, where they already have a national system of cyber-interconnecte d DRE's run by a single bureaucracy which serves as Administrator, Judge, Jury, and Advocate in cases of complaints, says:
"I know who I voted for.
So do They.
But only They know for whom my vote was counted!"

I would add: Even though they say that they do not - I believe that they can tell others who I voted for. Nice, no? No.

Tell The WA Legislature and Sam Reed, to deep-six the proposal for Internet Voting. Not even as a special case for special voters - service voters and overseas voters.
http://apps. leg.wa.gov/ billinfo/ summary.aspx? bill=1624&year=2009
http://apps. leg.wa.gov/ billinfo/ summary.aspx? bill=5522&year=2009

[eridani]

1. Bill number is HB 1624

Get your state legislators to oppose this.

[eridani]

2. Other legislative integrity news from Jason Osgood

Below is a list compiled by Steve Zemke. The two bills I'm testifying against are:

HB 1623 is about the counting of mail ballots. It includes language to change the deadline for mail ballots from postmarked to received by election day. Just like Oregon. Bad news.

HB 1624 is the internet voting. Bad news.

Cheers, Jason

Jason Osgood <jason {at} jasonosgood.com>
Kathleen Myers--HCFA-WA

Public Hearing:
House State Government & Tribal Affairs
2/6/2009 1:30 O’Brien Building Hearing Room D


HB 1193 - Creating a program to allow youth to preregister to vote.
HB 1622 - Modifying voter registration provisions.
HB 1623 - Counting absentee ballots.
HB 1624 - Authorizing internet voting for service voters and overseas voters.
HJR 4202 - Amending the Constitution to allow seventeen year olds to vote in a primary if they will be eighteen years old by the next general election, and the primary is being held to select the candidates for the November general election

[eridani]

3. From Verified Voting

We need your help. Washington legislators are considering bills that would threaten verifiable voting in Washington by allowing ballots to be cast over the Internet. The bills, HB 1624 and SB 5522, are a well-intended effort to enfranchise service voters and overseas voters, *but they do not offer voters a secure, verifiable ballot.

You can help! Visit our action center to send lawmakers a message opposing House Bill 1624 and Senate Bill 5522 and then *pass this on*:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/199/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26600

Sending voted ballots over the Internet may seem the next logical step in elections - but wait. Computer scientists and, most recently the Federal National Institute of Standards and Technology, have warned us that sending voted, secret ballots over the Internet is a uniquely challenging task. Secret ballots aren't like a credit card transaction that you can track and verify. The ballot is submitted - and its contents can't be traced, so there is no way to verify the ballot independently of computer software. It's not impossible that one day some form of Internet voting may offer secure ballots, but we clearly aren't at that point yet. Malicious software could change, fabricate, or delete votes cast over the Internet.

Our men and women in uniform, and our citizens overseas, deserve every opportunity to vote, but it does not enfranchise voters if a systems allows votes to be lost or stolen undetectably. There are better alternatives: allowing blank ballots to be sent electronically, and allowing sufficient time for overseas and service voters to send back a ballot.

Please tell your lawmakers to oppose HB 1624 and SB 5522:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/199/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26600

Thank you for all you do!

Best regards,

The Team at Verified Voting

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. Yet you have no problem will all mail-in voting, which is even less secure

It is far easier to tamper with the mail. Hacking a computer requires some degree of technical expertise; stealing ballots out of a mail box and replacing them with fraudulent ones does not.

[eridani]

5. The difference between the two is AUDITABILITY

I'd much prefer poll voting as at least an option, where people can self-check the ballots.