Thread: electronic voting motherboard for sale

Did everyone see this on Lou Dobbs last night?

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/ ... dt.01.html

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Voter watchdog groups report that in recent months, components for electronic voting machines and even an entire machine are regularly up for sale, even on E-Bay. A quick check on E-Bay found this Diebold motherboard for sale, listed as brand new.
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The URL for the transcript will lead you to the entire story. It is ridiculous, but honestly not surprising to me.

I can see this being used for many issues, including the immigration reform movement! Pro-illegals may have a way to "vote" their sympathetic politicians into office.

I missed Lou last night but like you......this doesn't surprise me one bit.

I know that the databases they were planing on using in these electronic voting computers were going to be in microsoft excel format. Which means they would be very easy for someone to edit.

check out http://www.blackboxvoting.org/

Originally Posted by NoIllegalsAllowed

I know that the databases they were planing on using in these electronic voting computers were going to be in microsoft excel format. Which means they would be very easy for someone to edit.

So they are in easy format and up for grabs on Ebay? Boy, the next elections are really gonna be interesting when people are this concerned about e voting already and seeing what is going on with these machines.

I just searched and didn't see anything on ebay for electronic voting except for some books. Maybe ebay got wind of it and is pulling the auctions. There is a report button on the bottom of all auctions. If you are a registered user and see one hit report and turn the auction in.

That has always been the issue with electronic voting. Electronic data is easy to manipulate. Encryption is not as secure as everyone thinks. Look at the DVD copying encryption. It has been broken; look at Dish and Direct TV. They have both been hacked do a search. Now we have Illegal’s voting on paper ballots and punch cards. You will not believe the fraud that will occur with electronic ballots. Any computer guy that has access to the equipment would be able to modify the data if they have the encryption key or Admin rights depending. I would seriously doubt they would use a spread sheet like excel to store the data though. They would more likely use a SQL database with a custom front end.

Last night on Lou Dobbs:
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sixty percent of the votes in the 2004 presidential election were cast or tallied by electronic voting machines. And that may hit 80 percent by this November's elections. Twenty-eight states with more than half the U.S. population have legislation or rules for a mandatory paper record of the vote, but 22 states are holding out.

Now activists are banding together and suing.

LOWELL FINLEY, VOTER ACTION: Sometimes litigation is the only way to get the attention of the officials. And in the end, sometimes the only way that the change can be brought about, by asking a judge to order it.

PILGRIM: Today, voter activists filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania against the secretary of state and county election officials alleging current electronic voting machines violate state election codes and the state constitution.

There is a groundswell of e-voting litigation with cases in California, Arizona, Colorado Maryland, New Jersey and Georgia. In New Mexico, a successful court case forced the entire state to use optically-scanned paper ballots. In Georgia, plaintiffs representing the state's nine million voters have filed a lawsuit.

GARLAND FAVORITO, VOTERGA.ORG: We have a group of approximately eight plaintiffs that span the complete political spectrum. And we all agree on one thing: we have to be able to hold legitimate elections before we can even discuss political issues. So we've decided to put all our political issues or differences aside, and let's focus on one thing. Let's restore the integrity of Georgia elections.

PILGRIM: In Georgia, activists say they did not push for this November's midterm election. They would rather not rush a judge and have the issue examined in depth before the next presidential election.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PILGRIM: Now, some cases challenge the reliability of the electronic voting machines, saying they can be hacked or tampered with. Other cases focus on the state constitution and the obligation to provide a permanent record of the election.

The goal is the same, to make sure that a permanent record exists of any election held in the United States -- Lou.

DOBBS: What a good idea.

PILGRIM: It seems pretty simple.

DOBBS: It's straightforward. You know, I cannot believe that there would be anyone who would suggest there shouldn't be a paper record of these votes, irrespective of the machine or the type of equipment used.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/ ... dt.01.html

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No mention of Ebay last night, only Monday night. Maybe Ebay pulled the item or it has sold.
Here's one voting machine that sold on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Touch-screen-Diebol ... 7952QQrdZ1
touch screen voting machine

This seems appropriate since it appears our country is for sale too.

Originally Posted by AlturaCt

This seems appropriate since it appears our country is for sale too.

So, anybody, what do we do about these machines? Write to elected officials? lol Seriously....what action would be best?

Originally Posted by American_made

That has always been the issue with electronic voting. Electronic data is easy to manipulate. Encryption is not as secure as everyone thinks. Look at the DVD copying encryption. It has been broken; look at Dish and Direct TV. They have both been hacked do a search. Now we have Illegal’s voting on paper ballots and punch cards. You will not believe the fraud that will occur with electronic ballots. Any computer guy that has access to the equipment would be able to modify the data if they have the encryption key or Admin rights depending. I would seriously doubt they would use a spread sheet like excel to store the data though. They would more likely use a SQL database with a custom front end.

The last time I heard it was only going to be an excel database.