Ebay is full of used voting machines full of real electoral data and riddled with security defects

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/10/25/windows-ce-and-usb.html

3 Likes

Since voting machines hit the scene:

Suddenly, exit polls no longer match election results. See stupid explanations such as “embarrassed Trump and Bush voters”

The Red Shift becomes a well-documented phenomenon.

Statistically speaking, election results no longer make much sense (see Law of Large numbers).

Supreme Court has been radicalized to enforce rigged elections (Bush v. Gore was just the start)

Voter ID laws and other phoney laws to “secure elections” turn a blind eye to the real problem and instead focus on furthering the Red Shift and they will be upheld by the SC.

Republicans have hacked elections, used hacked elections to secure the SC and ensured that the only way Dems can retake power is by having a turnout a good 10+ points above theirs. We’re in a very dark place.

4 Likes

Don’t forget, the last time a Republican candidate won the presidency and the popular vote was 1988.

3 Likes

Selling used voting machines on Ebay isn’t a problem. Even selling them with real old electoral data isn’t really an issue - if anyone were serious about security then that data should have been published the day after the election.

The only problem here is the fact that voting machines like this were ever used to begin with (and worse, are still being used). That’s it. Restricting ebay sales would just serve to cover that up.

The last general election here in the Netherlands was once again done with paper ballots and a red pencil. Back when I first started voting in the early naughts the first machines were coming in, but they were just as much of a nightmare to secure as the US ones. The Russian spectacle of '16 was the final nail in the coffin, it doesn’t look like I’ll be voting electronically any time soon. Probably for the best as well.

The joys of a district system :roll_eyes:

1 Like

I recognize that states are fiercely protective of their rights. But there’s an opportunity here to develop nationwide policies and security protocols that would govern how voting machines are secured.

Yes, there certainly is an opportunity here. Toss the machines out on their asses, and then mandate paper-only ballots that are twice or even thrice counted by separate independent bodies.

3 Likes

And as far as the machines go, build something that’s been reviewed openly, subjected to extensive testing, and has a paper audit record (or some other immutable audit mechanism that can be reviewed).

I mean, humanity on a whole has managed to build this world wide information sharing network connecting disparate systems using openly agreed upon standards; creating a voting terminal shouldn’t be that much more of a stretch.

1 Like

At that point, why not skip the machine altogether?

1 Like

That is a valid point; I know that Arizona uses a paper ballot for early voters, although it’s a scantron-style “connect the arrow” style ballot which allows for machine counting.

The end goal with the voting machines was to make tabulating results faster and less prone to human error; clearly this iteration of machines have utterly failed that goal.

1 Like

Voting is for Democrats and Other Enemies of America! Venezuelans Vote, and so do Las Salvadorans and MS-13! Very SAD!

1 Like

Our democracy… on the scrapheap of the internet. How apropos.

Windows CE? Anyone else wondering how Windows CE was chosen for voting machines?

This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.