Nicole C. Brambila
The Desert Sun
January 8, 2007
Programmers might have hacked into democracy elsewhere, but it could get derailed in Riverside County.
In December, Supervisor Jeff Stone, frustrated with continual confrontations from the Temecula-area community watchdog group created to oversee Riverside County elections, challenged Save R Vote to hack into the county’s voting machines. Stone laid odds the group couldn’t do it.
That was until they hired Finnish computer programmer Harri Hursti - who successfully tampered with a Diebold voting machine in the HBO documentary “Hacking Democracy” - to attempt the hack.
Now Stone has thrown a couple of ground rules into the mix — no tools and no dismantling the machine. And the hacker has to infiltrate the system in 15 minutes, the estimated time it takes a voter to do their civic duty.
Tom Courbat, executive director of Save R Vote, says Stone needs to be realistic.
http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070108/UPDATE/70108028Realistic? Stone needs to come to terms with the fact that the SECRET VOTE COUNTING GAME IS OVER. Maybe he just didn't get the memo.