Machines are fine as long as they're simple arithmometer-type scanners that accept or reject ballots in-place, and output basic data on a screen that poll workers then manually report to the news stations. No USB ports, no wifi, no nothing on the machines. No firmware updates except at the factory. Rugged and unique technology, similar to how NASA writes their software.
But in order for this to WORK, we have to ELIMINATE ALL SCENARIOS WHERE A BALLOT IS FED INTO THE MACHINE BY A POLL WORKER. In-person vote only. The military can't vote? Bring them some of these rugged voting machines ahead of time, every soldier identifies himself with a ballot and feeds it, and then ship the machines the fuck back.
Each machine should contain physical, verifiable, fed-in-person ballots. In a sane country, that is.
Optical scanners are supposedly set up to zero and tested prior to election day. On the morning of the election before the poll opens all parties attest to the machine having a zero count by a printout. Before the machine arrives the paid election workers have set it up certified the machine. I can program that machine the optical-scanner software to shift 20% of the votes from candidate A to B by a stick that goes with the machine. Your poll book matches the number of ballots used in the election and you are off to the races in each precinct.
The only way to counteract this is to hand recount every ballot. If you are going to hand count then there is no need to scan the ballot in the first place. Unless there is a discrepancy at the end of the day there is never a hand-count.
To keep from hand-counting they do a digital audit. The machine is set to zero and the ballots are fed through the machines once again. Nothing will change other than a couple of votes. In many counties, they save time handling ballots during an audit, by just examining the digital images of the paper ballots captured by the high-resolution optical scanners. The problem is that if the optical-scanners are hacked to cheat, are set up by the same people who set the scanner up in the first place. Then the cheating program can also provide fake high-res digital images.
There is another way to cheat for optical scanners. Program the software to always interpret “marginal” marks in favor of one party.
No. Machines. Period
Machines are fine as long as they're simple arithmometer-type scanners that accept or reject ballots in-place, and output basic data on a screen that poll workers then manually report to the news stations. No USB ports, no wifi, no nothing on the machines. No firmware updates except at the factory. Rugged and unique technology, similar to how NASA writes their software.
But in order for this to WORK, we have to ELIMINATE ALL SCENARIOS WHERE A BALLOT IS FED INTO THE MACHINE BY A POLL WORKER. In-person vote only. The military can't vote? Bring them some of these rugged voting machines ahead of time, every soldier identifies himself with a ballot and feeds it, and then ship the machines the fuck back.
Each machine should contain physical, verifiable, fed-in-person ballots. In a sane country, that is.
Optical scanners are supposedly set up to zero and tested prior to election day. On the morning of the election before the poll opens all parties attest to the machine having a zero count by a printout. Before the machine arrives the paid election workers have set it up certified the machine. I can program that machine the optical-scanner software to shift 20% of the votes from candidate A to B by a stick that goes with the machine. Your poll book matches the number of ballots used in the election and you are off to the races in each precinct.
The only way to counteract this is to hand recount every ballot. If you are going to hand count then there is no need to scan the ballot in the first place. Unless there is a discrepancy at the end of the day there is never a hand-count.
To keep from hand-counting they do a digital audit. The machine is set to zero and the ballots are fed through the machines once again. Nothing will change other than a couple of votes. In many counties, they save time handling ballots during an audit, by just examining the digital images of the paper ballots captured by the high-resolution optical scanners. The problem is that if the optical-scanners are hacked to cheat, are set up by the same people who set the scanner up in the first place. Then the cheating program can also provide fake high-res digital images.
There is another way to cheat for optical scanners. Program the software to always interpret “marginal” marks in favor of one party.