On examination, it appears the security testing ?Election Focus? talks about doesn?t actually exist. An ITA report on the AccuVote-TSX says: ?All software (including firmware) for all voting systems shall incorporate measures to prevent access by unauthorized persons, and prevent unauthorized operations which include modification of compiled or interpreted code, run-time alteration of flow control logic or data.? While this item was declared: ?Passed,? the comment read, ?Firmware not reviewed by software lTA.?
Further on the same page: ?The vendor shall provide a penetration analysis relevant to the operating status of the system, and its environment. It shall identify all entry points and the methods of attack to which each is vulnerable.? The report: ?Not Applicable,? comment: ?Penetration Analysis not reviewed by software lTA.? So much for the ?stringent requirements of the Federal Election Commission.?
Lack of security testing has long been a concern of the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project, especially in light of the successful ?hacking? of Diebold systems by Harri Hursti, international computer expert, who just last December demonstrated a successful penetration and ?vote-flipping? of the Diebold AccuVote-OS optical scanner in Leon County (Talahassee), Florida. Convinced the system wasn?t secure, the Leon County
Board of Supervisors voted to cancel their contract with Diebold and buy another system.
Naperville resident, Rita Ibrahim, after following the controversy over the system has decided, ?I don?t believe that the [DuPage] Election Commission has answered all our concerns about these machines. I,
Will DuPage Voters Get ?Scrunched? In Early Voting? Page 4
for one, will not use early voting in order to avoid these machines which have been demonstrated to have problems in previous elections in California, Florida, and Ohio. Computer experts have told us these machines will always be vulnerable to manipulation and there is no transparency in the programming so that the public could have confidence in elections.?
It?s this lack of transparency that worries citizen election integrity groups. Diebold says it?s computer source code is ?proprietary? and won?t release it for examination by computer scientists or the public. Not
knowing what?s inside these machines bothers many people, including DuPage?s Stephanie Hughes, "We
have no way to verify that results are accurate other than our election officials saying, 'Trust us.' Unfortunately, they in turn are trusting private companies to count the votes. How do we know that the proprietary software isn't miscounting votes? How do we know the code on a memory card isn?t malicious? How do we know the central tabulating system hasn't been compromised?"
When Dianne Felts, director of voting systems and standards of the State Board of Elections was quoted in a February 11, 2006 Chicago Tribune article as saying, "Shortcuts are being taken that shouldn't be taken," she wasn?t kidding!
DuPage voters have put their trust in the County Election Commission ? are they about to get ?scrunched?? We?ll find out on March 22nd.
The Illinois Ballot Integrity Project is a not-for-profit, non-partisan civic organization dedicated to the correction of election system deficiencies and ensuring fair, accurate, and completely transparent elections. IBIP believes that fundamental to election integrity is the inscribing of all votes (whether by hand or by machine) on durable paper ballots which are easily handled and verified by the individual voter. The voter?s paper ballot should be the only official ballot for purposes of casting, tallying, counting, audit and recount.
The Mission of the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project is to inform and educate the public, media and government officials about important election integrity issues and to promote the adoption of legislation and policies designed to secure the democratic process.
www.ballot-integrity.org
Further on the same page: ?The vendor shall provide a penetration analysis relevant to the operating status of the system, and its environment. It shall identify all entry points and the methods of attack to which each is vulnerable.? The report: ?Not Applicable,? comment: ?Penetration Analysis not reviewed by software lTA.? So much for the ?stringent requirements of the Federal Election Commission.?
Lack of security testing has long been a concern of the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project, especially in light of the successful ?hacking? of Diebold systems by Harri Hursti, international computer expert, who just last December demonstrated a successful penetration and ?vote-flipping? of the Diebold AccuVote-OS optical scanner in Leon County (Talahassee), Florida. Convinced the system wasn?t secure, the Leon County
Board of Supervisors voted to cancel their contract with Diebold and buy another system.
Naperville resident, Rita Ibrahim, after following the controversy over the system has decided, ?I don?t believe that the [DuPage] Election Commission has answered all our concerns about these machines. I,
Will DuPage Voters Get ?Scrunched? In Early Voting? Page 4
It?s this lack of transparency that worries citizen election integrity groups. Diebold says it?s computer source code is ?proprietary? and won?t release it for examination by computer scientists or the public. Not
knowing what?s inside these machines bothers many people, including DuPage?s Stephanie Hughes, "We
have no way to verify that results are accurate other than our election officials saying, 'Trust us.' Unfortunately, they in turn are trusting private companies to count the votes. How do we know that the proprietary software isn't miscounting votes? How do we know the code on a memory card isn?t malicious? How do we know the central tabulating system hasn't been compromised?"
When Dianne Felts, director of voting systems and standards of the State Board of Elections was quoted in a February 11, 2006 Chicago Tribune article as saying, "Shortcuts are being taken that shouldn't be taken," she wasn?t kidding!
DuPage voters have put their trust in the County Election Commission ? are they about to get ?scrunched?? We?ll find out on March 22nd.
The Illinois Ballot Integrity Project is a not-for-profit, non-partisan civic organization dedicated to the correction of election system deficiencies and ensuring fair, accurate, and completely transparent elections. IBIP believes that fundamental to election integrity is the inscribing of all votes (whether by hand or by machine) on durable paper ballots which are easily handled and verified by the individual voter. The voter?s paper ballot should be the only official ballot for purposes of casting, tallying, counting, audit and recount.
The Mission of the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project is to inform and educate the public, media and government officials about important election integrity issues and to promote the adoption of legislation and policies designed to secure the democratic process.
www.ballot-integrity.org
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