megalith (10 posts)
Sat Dec-25-04 09:36 AM
7. Hard Info on Triad - An Xmas present
Hello
I am the SE Ohio regional Co-ord for the Green Recount, Hocking is my county and I have spent hours interviewing Ms Eaton. I was also present at the BoE meeting this Monday at Hocking. This is what I know about the Triad program <ElecTab V 1.s > that runs the card reader. And note: the card reader can be any manufactuers that adheres to the original IBM standard from the 40's-50's for punch cards. Triad builds the data aquisition/reporting software that runs the card reader, not the card reader.
Electab V1.s is old code, written in Cobol and runs under DOS, it is not Windows code. It is primitive. The machine running it varies from county to county, in Hocking it was a 14 year old Dell 386 .5 meg ram, running DOS 6. In Hocking the computer running the software is not connected to the BoE local ethernet. It does not have a modem. File transfer is by floppy disk. Printed reports on vote totals are produced from the printer attached to the tabulating computer. I do believe that other installations of Electab V1.s MAY exist on other machines in the office, but cannot confirm. Triad also provides the voter registration database for Hocking as a separate product. This is the data base that may run under more modern operating systems and applications <FoxPro as an example> I do not know anything about Triads Total Election Management Software.
I have been told by another county BoE <not Hocking> that every BoE has a T-1 line installed from the state. In my sources county the BoE is tight about security, that T-1 IS NOT connected to the local BoE's ethernet. And their tabulator is not connected to the local eithernet. However this particular BoE's tabulator does have a modem. To use it they have to unplug their fax line and plug the modem in from their office. This is occationally done to upgrade the Electab software. We are told by Triad that the same version of ElecTab is in use in all Ohio Triad counties. Triad also allowed us to print the directory tree for the Hocking computer.
Triad does take floppy copies of the tabulator count files on the night of the election or shortly thereafter. Remember that this data is what the BoEs hand out the night of the election, so it is public record. However the application required to read the data <Electab> is not public. Handy data to have.
Triad maintains open web space on their server that local BoEs may use to post local election results. Triad claims that they do not post the data, but that the local BoEs do the posting.
What does this all mean? That installations and practical security vary from BoE to BoE.
About reprogramming the tabulator.
Ohio has for many decades insisted that in recounts, only the race to be recounted will be tabulated. They do not want any found or corrected votes in the recount race to affect down ballot races and throw them into question. <A tacit admission that there are errors in vote counting > Again this is state, not Triad policy. Triad contracts with individual BoEs, not the state. As part of their standard sevice agreement, they create at no separate charge a new SETUP FILE so that only the race being recounting is tabulated and reported. I believe that this is policy for ESS optical scans as well.
About the recount:
You take a precinct(s) that combined, total at least 3% of the county's vote total, handcount that precinct(s), then run that stack through the tabulator. If totals votes match exactly then the rest of the county is run through the tabulator and machine recounted.
If totals on the 3% sample do not match, you handcount the entire county. Which is what every one, except us, wants to avoid.
I think only one county has gone to handcount, and they invited it, because they found a major accounting error in their official total.
About "Un-rigging" via modem.
Actually any hack that affects the official tabulation of votes must also be present for the recount, because the whole point is for the recount machine tabulated totals to closely match the official totals. So the hack code <if any> must be resident and active for both runs. Additionally it must anticipate which precincts are likely to be preselected for a 3% handcount, and NOT hack the totals in those precincts. Additionally it must pass the test decks without applying the hack, as these are handcounted also. A tall order but possible. The point being that once resident and applying the hack, the script must stay in place and remain active. There is no reason to remove it. Got it?
About illegal "tampering" by the Triad tech
Fact is, batteries fail and in old systems they will take down the BIOS with them. I have worked on hardware since before the first IBM PC and have had this very thing happen. When it does the system no longer knows the track and sector assignments for the HD and thus cannot read the HD. Fix is to open the case, read the HD serial number, find someone that has a database for that series of drive and re-setup system BIOS with new track and sector assignments, the data on the drive is not affected. And that is in fact what happened and what the tech fixed. Happened again on Monday during the BoE meeting in Hocking. Old, beat equipment.
About the "cheat sheet"
This is far more intersting, as it indicates that there is a tacit assumtion amoungst all parties that:
* BoEs will preselect their 3% precincts <in plain violation of Ohio statute which requires that the selection be random, for obvious reasons>
* That the precincts selected will be those most likely to scan well by the tabulator.
* That the tech was trying to point out a way that BoE ballot handcounters could remember how many over and under votes are in the precinct to be handcounted as part of the 3%, and thus anticipate and make sure to find them. This is important because it is undervotes that punchcards are most likely to miss. If missed the county goes to a hand count.
Given these assumptions, the clever evil green man intent upon hacking the system will stay away from precints likely to be selected for the 3% count, and instead focus on those precincts least likely to be hand counted to apply the hack. Focus on these and you have a way to hack the results, provided you can predict which precincts will never be pre-selected for the 3% handcount.
Remember, this does not mean that the system is hacked. But it provides a rational for how it could be. Got It?
Lastly, there is more to the logic that any hack script MUST incorporate, given the presently observered behavior of the system. Knowing this it should be possible to construct a logical test run protocol that would defeat any logically possible hack and prove that either:
* the count is honest OR
* The count is hacked
That's what I am working on. Preparing to make history or dash a lot of hopes, but seeking the truth of the matter in either case.
Best and Brightest Soltice to all.
Sure in the promise that the light will return in these darkest of days.
Orren Whiddon
SE Ohio Co-ord
Green Recount
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x195088