International Herald Tribune Editorial - Time to act on U.S. voting reform
International Herald Tribune Editorial - Time to act on U.S. voting reform
Copyright by The International Herald Tribune
Published: July 31, 2007
Before the House of Representatives takes its August recess, it owes it to the voters to pass a bill that would fix the problems with electronic voting. And there is a good bill ready, sponsored by Rush Holt, Democrat of New Jersey, that would go a long way toward making elections more secure.
Electronic voting machines in their current form simply cannot be trusted. Just last week, a team of computer scientists from California released a study of three voting systems that once again showed how easy it is to hack into electronic systems and alter the count.
The most important protection against electronic voting fraud is the voter-verified paper trail, a paper record that the voter can check to make sure that it properly reflects his or her choices. There should then be mandatory audits of a significant number of these paper records to ensure that the results tallied on the voting machines match the votes recorded on paper.
Holt's bill would require that every voting machine produce a paper record of every vote cast in a federal election, and it would mandate random audits. It would also prohibit the use of wireless and Internet technology, which are especially vulnerable to hackers.
When Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House majority leader, Steny Hoyer, took over in January, there was much enthusiasm for fixing the problem. But no progress has been made. Pelosi and Hoyer can show their commitment to reliable elections by scheduling a vote this week on the Holt bill.
Copyright by The International Herald Tribune
Published: July 31, 2007
Before the House of Representatives takes its August recess, it owes it to the voters to pass a bill that would fix the problems with electronic voting. And there is a good bill ready, sponsored by Rush Holt, Democrat of New Jersey, that would go a long way toward making elections more secure.
Electronic voting machines in their current form simply cannot be trusted. Just last week, a team of computer scientists from California released a study of three voting systems that once again showed how easy it is to hack into electronic systems and alter the count.
The most important protection against electronic voting fraud is the voter-verified paper trail, a paper record that the voter can check to make sure that it properly reflects his or her choices. There should then be mandatory audits of a significant number of these paper records to ensure that the results tallied on the voting machines match the votes recorded on paper.
Holt's bill would require that every voting machine produce a paper record of every vote cast in a federal election, and it would mandate random audits. It would also prohibit the use of wireless and Internet technology, which are especially vulnerable to hackers.
When Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House majority leader, Steny Hoyer, took over in January, there was much enthusiasm for fixing the problem. But no progress has been made. Pelosi and Hoyer can show their commitment to reliable elections by scheduling a vote this week on the Holt bill.
posted by Carlos T Mock @ 8:14 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home