Secure Online Voting Systems

The largest threat of a new voting system is the danger of technological election fraud… the manipulation of the data. The answer to election fraud is simple and not dependent on the development of new security technologies. It can be accomplished by providing public access to an online database containing the results of every vote cast.

A database that is kept from the public invites corruption, butelection results cannot be altered if the voters are able to validate their ownvotes online. Read-only access to the system will be based on a uniqueregistration number assigned to each voter and printed on their votershandbook. Changes cannot be made after the initial vote.

The voting machine must also provide a printout of the vote andinclude this registration number. Voters should be encouraged to look up theirvote online and make sure it is recorded correctly. If there is any discrepancyit should be reported immediately. Any manipulation of the voting results will be immediately obvious and result inan instantaneous nationwide outcry from the public.

The addition of printing capabilities to a voting machine willnot cost the $500 per machine the manufacturers are claiming. A small, inexpensive network willenable a single ink-jet printer to handle fairly large voting precincts. Thisappears to be a ruse by the companies to either raise the prices of theirsystems or to avoid the issue of offering the public a printout of their vote.

The choice of a new voting system is of particular importanceas recent reports indicate some of the top voting machine companies, includingPopulex and Diebold, have Republican ties, especially with the Bushadministration. Diebold is reportedly making large financial contributions tothe Bush campaign and, at the same time, helping the administration to form itscampaign strategies.

Diebold’s system is reportedly able to track electionresults as they come in and includes the technology to alter election results.Public access to the database described here would nullify any attempts tosteal an election.

A more detailed plan for an electronic voting system canbe viewed at: http://viewfromthemeadow.com/onlinevoting.html

David Satre