How safe is your vote?
PRINCETON, N.J. (WABC) -- Just how safe is your vote? A team of Princeton computer scientists says in the case of New Jersey voters, not that safe.
They'll be casting their votes on electronic machines. Some experts believe those are far too susceptible to fraud.
It didn't take long for us to find unattended voting machines in New Jersey. In open hallways of community centers and unlocked rooms at municipal buildings and town halls, we found dozens of the machines sitting out six days before the election in places where the public has easy access.
"All you need is 10 minutes of unsupervised access to a voting machine to open it up and stick in a vote stealing program," Princeton computer science professor Andrew Appel said.
Appel says the electronic voting machines used by New Jersey should never be left unguarded because, he says, they have a fatal flaw.
"They're hackable in such a way that they can invisibly steal votes and there's no paper audit trail you can use to detect the fraud," he said.
Professor Appel and three other Princeton computer engineers recently released a study on New Jersey's electronic voting machines. The study concluded that the "machines are inherently susceptible to fraud."
In a video, Appel demonstrated how in 5 seconds he was able to pick the lock on a machine. In less than 10 minutes, the professor demonstrated how he was able to unscrew the back panel and replace the computer chip with one he programmed to steal votes.
"The bottom line -- you can't trust these machines are actually adding up the vote the way the voters are voting," he explained.
robert giles/nj dir. of elections: " we can trust these machines."
New Jersey's Director of Elections says the professor was able to hack into the voting machine because he had un-limited access.
"We can trust these machines," said Robert Giles.
For months, Giles said he was able to tinker with the machine without any of the security measurements in place.
"What he shows in a lab can hacked into, but in the real world it would take a very extreme measure to get in there," Giles argued.
Giles says every one of the 10-thousand voting machines used on election night will have layers of tamper-proof security.
"We have metal cable seals. We have security screw caps, tamper evident tape," he said.
Professor Appel is not impressed.
"Those tamper-proof seals can be faked its not that difficult," Appel said.
What appel and other critics of the voting machines find equally alarming is that they have no paper trail on which to check the accuracy of the votes cast.
"As far as paper, no. There's no paper trail on these particular machines," Giles said.
New Jersey is just one of a handful of states that will be using the paperless, electronic voting machines on Tuesday.
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Full Version: How safe is your vote?
Common Ground Common Sense > Issues that Affect Our Lives > Civil Rights and Civil Liberties > Fair Election Practices
QUOTE(ap215 @ Nov 1 2008, 10:09 AM) 
How safe is your vote?
PRINCETON, N.J. (WABC) --
...It didn't take long for us to find unattended voting machines in New Jersey. In open hallways of community centers and unlocked rooms at municipal buildings and town halls, we found dozens of the machines sitting out six days before the election in places where the public has easy access....
PRINCETON, N.J. (WABC) --
...It didn't take long for us to find unattended voting machines in New Jersey. In open hallways of community centers and unlocked rooms at municipal buildings and town halls, we found dozens of the machines sitting out six days before the election in places where the public has easy access....
UNBELIEVABLE! Do you have a link?
QUOTE
http://bradblog.com/
VIDEO: OPRAH SEES OWN PRESIDENTIAL VOTE DROPPED BY TOUCH-SCREEN VOTING MACHINE
Blogged by Brad Friedman on 10/31/2008 10:25PM PT
'I went back to check it, it had not recorded my presidential vote!' Says Terrified, Potentially Disenfranchised Queen of Television...
NOW UPDATED With Much More Useful Info for Oprah and Others Who Do Not Understand These Voting Systems, or What to do If the Same Thing Happens To You...
VIDEO: OPRAH SEES OWN PRESIDENTIAL VOTE DROPPED BY TOUCH-SCREEN VOTING MACHINE
Blogged by Brad Friedman on 10/31/2008 10:25PM PT
'I went back to check it, it had not recorded my presidential vote!' Says Terrified, Potentially Disenfranchised Queen of Television...
NOW UPDATED With Much More Useful Info for Oprah and Others Who Do Not Understand These Voting Systems, or What to do If the Same Thing Happens To You...
Oh, no - not her again!
QUOTE
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/37295
Gore Vidal et al to Obama: Do Not Concede!
An Open Letter to Senator Obama and the Democratic Leadership: On Election Night, DO NOT CONCEDE!
Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2008-11-01 17:06.
“Eight years is too much” is how Barack Obama explained why we must win the coming election and begin to restore America. But, even if we receive the most votes, will we win the election?
DO NOT CONCEDE!
Both of the last two elections were conceded by the Democratic presidential candidate. The 2004 election was handed to George Bush while votes were still being counted in closely-fought Ohio. While the 2000 election was contested to the Supreme Court, it too was ultimately conceded to Bush “for the good of the country.”
Some good.
Numerous politicians, investigators and authors, including Robert Kennedy, Jr., agree the 2004 election was stolen, not only in Ohio but in several other battleground states. Tactics included purging of legitimate voters and the use of nefarious voting software--but when even these actions did not yield the required numbers, Republican election officials simply changed the vote tallies in several states, all without a peep from the Democratic Party.
DO NOT CONCEDE!
In the time since the last general election the public has learned much about these scandals, which have led some states to reject electronic touchscreen voting (and which caused the infamous Diebold voting machines corporation to hide behind a new corporate name,) yet the Democratic Party seems to have learned nothing.
THREE STRIKES AND WE'RE OUT!
If we cannot afford another Republican administration, we cannot afford a third concession in the face of election fraud. Already there is evidence of massive fraud such as voter purging and caging of Democratic voters, and “flipping” of votes in early voting on electronic touchscreen machines. It is reasonable to once again expect further manipulation on election night by some Republican operatives and election officials, as was seen in 2004; should we also expect our Democratic Party leaders and candidates to repeat history, by once again conceding in the face of such blatant fraud? Senator Obama, we need you, our Party and all candidates to stand firm, come what may on election night. You ask us to work for you, contribute to you--and to have your back; we ask that you promise to have our back: We ask that you PLEDGE TO STAND FIRM, AND NOT CONCEDE THE COMING ELECTION in the face of election irregularities, no matter how long it takes to contest such fraud, while there remains any doubt as to any part of the process. Be assured, Democratic voters will be more--not less--energized if we see you promise to stand firm.
Senator Obama, if there is any reason to contest the election,
DO NOT CONCEDE!
Signed: (Titles for identification purposes only)
Gore Vidal, Author
Bob Fitrakis, Professor of Political Science, Columbus State Community College, Attorney; Editor of The Free Press (freepress.org)
Harvey Wasserman, Senior Editor, FreePress.org, Author of SOLARTOPIA! Our Green-Powered Earth
Mark Crispin Miller, Professor of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University, Author of Fooled Again, How the Right Stole the 2004 Election
Tim Carpenter, Director, Progressive Democrats of America
Mimi Kennedy, Chair, National Advisory Board, Progressive Democrats of America
David Swanson, Co-Founder, After Downing Street
and others
Gore Vidal et al to Obama: Do Not Concede!
An Open Letter to Senator Obama and the Democratic Leadership: On Election Night, DO NOT CONCEDE!
Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2008-11-01 17:06.
“Eight years is too much” is how Barack Obama explained why we must win the coming election and begin to restore America. But, even if we receive the most votes, will we win the election?
DO NOT CONCEDE!
Both of the last two elections were conceded by the Democratic presidential candidate. The 2004 election was handed to George Bush while votes were still being counted in closely-fought Ohio. While the 2000 election was contested to the Supreme Court, it too was ultimately conceded to Bush “for the good of the country.”
Some good.
Numerous politicians, investigators and authors, including Robert Kennedy, Jr., agree the 2004 election was stolen, not only in Ohio but in several other battleground states. Tactics included purging of legitimate voters and the use of nefarious voting software--but when even these actions did not yield the required numbers, Republican election officials simply changed the vote tallies in several states, all without a peep from the Democratic Party.
DO NOT CONCEDE!
In the time since the last general election the public has learned much about these scandals, which have led some states to reject electronic touchscreen voting (and which caused the infamous Diebold voting machines corporation to hide behind a new corporate name,) yet the Democratic Party seems to have learned nothing.
THREE STRIKES AND WE'RE OUT!
If we cannot afford another Republican administration, we cannot afford a third concession in the face of election fraud. Already there is evidence of massive fraud such as voter purging and caging of Democratic voters, and “flipping” of votes in early voting on electronic touchscreen machines. It is reasonable to once again expect further manipulation on election night by some Republican operatives and election officials, as was seen in 2004; should we also expect our Democratic Party leaders and candidates to repeat history, by once again conceding in the face of such blatant fraud? Senator Obama, we need you, our Party and all candidates to stand firm, come what may on election night. You ask us to work for you, contribute to you--and to have your back; we ask that you promise to have our back: We ask that you PLEDGE TO STAND FIRM, AND NOT CONCEDE THE COMING ELECTION in the face of election irregularities, no matter how long it takes to contest such fraud, while there remains any doubt as to any part of the process. Be assured, Democratic voters will be more--not less--energized if we see you promise to stand firm.
Senator Obama, if there is any reason to contest the election,
DO NOT CONCEDE!
Signed: (Titles for identification purposes only)
Gore Vidal, Author
Bob Fitrakis, Professor of Political Science, Columbus State Community College, Attorney; Editor of The Free Press (freepress.org)
Harvey Wasserman, Senior Editor, FreePress.org, Author of SOLARTOPIA! Our Green-Powered Earth
Mark Crispin Miller, Professor of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University, Author of Fooled Again, How the Right Stole the 2004 Election
Tim Carpenter, Director, Progressive Democrats of America
Mimi Kennedy, Chair, National Advisory Board, Progressive Democrats of America
David Swanson, Co-Founder, After Downing Street
and others
Whew!
Thanks, ap215. I showed that article to everyone and called around, too. Glad it was irrelevant this time.
QUOTE
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=...&id=6464800
By Jim HofferPRINCETON, N.J. (WABC) -- Just how safe is your vote? A team of Princeton computer scientists says in the case of New Jersey voters, not that safe.
They'll be casting their votes on electronic machines. Some experts believe those are far too susceptible to fraud.
It didn't take long for us to find unattended voting machines in New Jersey. In open hallways of community centers and unlocked rooms at municipal buildings and town halls, we found dozens of the machines sitting out six days before the election in places where the public has easy access.
"All you need is 10 minutes of unsupervised access to a voting machine to open it up and stick in a vote stealing program," Princeton computer science professor Andrew Appel said.
By Jim HofferPRINCETON, N.J. (WABC) -- Just how safe is your vote? A team of Princeton computer scientists says in the case of New Jersey voters, not that safe.
They'll be casting their votes on electronic machines. Some experts believe those are far too susceptible to fraud.
It didn't take long for us to find unattended voting machines in New Jersey. In open hallways of community centers and unlocked rooms at municipal buildings and town halls, we found dozens of the machines sitting out six days before the election in places where the public has easy access.
"All you need is 10 minutes of unsupervised access to a voting machine to open it up and stick in a vote stealing program," Princeton computer science professor Andrew Appel said.
Thanks, ap215. I showed that article to everyone and called around, too. Glad it was irrelevant this time.
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