Scientists’ Tests Hack Into Electronic Voting Machines

[uscitizen]

Scientists’ Tests Hack Into Electronic Voting Machines in California and Elsewhere

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By CHRISTOPHER DREW
Published: July 28, 2007

Computer scientists from California universities have hacked into three electronic voting systems used in California and elsewhere in the nation and found several ways in which vote totals could potentially be altered, according to reports released yesterday by the state.

The reports, the latest to raise questions about electronic voting machines, came to light on a day when House leaders announced in Washington that they had reached an agreement on measures to revamp voting systems and increase their security.

The House bill would require every state to use paper records that would let voters verify that their ballots had been correctly cast and that would be available for recounts.

The House majority leader, Representative Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland, and the original sponsor of the bill, Representative Rush D. Holt, Democrat of New Jersey, said it would require hundreds of counties with paperless machines to install backup paper trails by the presidential election next year while giving most states until 2012 to upgrade their machines further.

Critics of the machines said that some of the measures would be just stopgaps and that the California reports showed that security problems needed to be addressed more urgently.

The California reports said the scientists, acting at the state’s request, had hacked into systems from three of the four largest companies in the business: Diebold Election Systems, Hart InterCivic and Sequoia Voting Systems.

Thousands of their machines in varying setups are in use.

The reports said the investigators had created situations for each system “in which these weaknesses could be exploited to affect the correct recording, reporting and tallying of votes.”

Voting experts said the review could prompt the California secretary of state, Debra Bowen, to ban the use of some of the machines in the 2008 elections unless extra security precautions were taken and the election results were closely audited.

Matthew A. Bishop, a professor of computer science at the University of California, Davis, who led the team that tried to compromise the machines, said his group was surprised by how easy it was not only to pick the physical locks on the machines, but also to break through the software defenses meant to block intruders.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/28/us...&partner=MYWAY

[blackascoal]

The question of fraud in electronic voting machines was conclusively proven in December of 2005 in Leon County, Florida in a test conducted by the Leon County Supervisor of Elections, Ion Sancho, Finnish computer expert Harri Hursti, Black Box Voting, and Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. It's known as the Leon County Hack.

The test was on Diebold machines and Hursti not only proved the potential for fraud, he proved that the machines were DESIGNED for fraud.

He proved that the Diebold software allowed for negative votes to be counted. Anyone who knows anything about software would know that this had to be done intentionally and the only reason for allowing negative votes to be counted is fraud.

How does the fraud work?

Before the election starts add 500 negative vote to candidate A.

During the election, say candidate A gets 2000 real votes. His total at the end of the day will be 1500, minus the 500 negative votes.

What do you do with the extra 500 real votes.

Add them to candidate B.

During the election. say candidate B got 1200 real votes. His total at the end of the day will be 1700 votes, plus 500 real votes from candidate A.

Winner .. Bush .. I mean candidate B .. AND the number of total votes comes out perfect. In 2004, half of America voted on Diebold machines.

After the Hursti Hack, Florida got rid of Diebold and states all over the country began demanding a Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) with every election held on electronic voting machines.

The activists begged the Democratic Party to take action on this before the 2004 election, and not only were we ignored, in some states like Georgia, it was the democrats we had to fight. I know because I was in the middle of that fight.

[uscitizen]

The head of diebold did say that he would do anything he could to get Bush elected ......

[evince]

He promised his election.

Its is so very sad that people will be voting on these things again next election.

And then theres vote caging

[uscitizen]

Many of the leectronic machines are going out and paper trails are being required in more places. The voting machine situation has improved slightly, but needs to have national standards set to ensure that our national consititional right for an accurate election is assured.

[Epicurus]

I'm pretty much convinced at this point. Diebold needs to redesign or be dumped.

[Cypress]

Pffffttt.

We need UN Election Observers here in 2008.

[Epicurus]

Pffffttt.

We need UN Election Observers here in 2008.

At the risk of legitimizing the UN, I agree.

It's better to dispell doubt.

[Crashk]

if all this is true, can we all say coup d'état?

the american people dont want to believe their system has been corrupted by the ultra right wing of the Republican party, but the evidence is building. If they are more than willing to game our elections, what else are they willing to do in order to remain in power?

scary stuff

[blackascoal]

The glaring reality is that the election of Hugo Chavez had far more integrity than the selection of Bush in 2000 or 2004. Americans are not nearly as smart as we think we are. The neocons stole these elections right in front of our faces. O'Dell said he was going to "deliver the election to Bush" then he did it, right in front of our faces.

To the notion that democrats are smarter than republicans .. I wouldn't be so quick to make that claim. The elections of 2000 and 2004 doesn't support that idea at all. A combination of a lack of courage and intelligence allowed the republicans to reign supreme over the land. I wouldn't bet against the neocons stealing the election of 2008 using caging and other tried and true methods they have employed in the past.

It wasn't democrats who did the work to prove the fraud of electronic voting. The activists did their work for them, and the democratic politician who spoke loudest and earliest against the fraud, Cynthia McKinney, is no longer in office and was never supported by the Democratic Party.

This lack of courage and intellect in the Democratic Party is why I'm not a democrat.

The theft of the election in 2000 was just the beginning of a long line of deceptions Americans weren't smart enough to figure out.

The problem with America isn't George Bush. The problem with America is Americans.

[evince]

Its the media, they are complicit with the neo con cabal.

This is why the big "Media is liberal " hype that started like 20 years ago.

the people doing this have been patient and it payed off.

They are still complicit and the only place on the air you hear anything about this stuff is PBS or Olberman.

[evince]

I have to give Hilary the " right wing consperacy" props

[Cancel7]

The glaring reality is that the election of Hugo Chavez had far more integrity than the selection of Bush in 2000 or 2004. Americans are not nearly as smart as we think we are. The neocons stole these elections right in front of our faces. O'Dell said he was going to "deliver the election to Bush" then he did it, right in front of our faces.

To the notion that democrats are smarter than republicans .. I wouldn't be so quick to make that claim. The elections of 2000 and 2004 doesn't support that idea at all. A combination of a lack of courage and intelligence allowed the republicans to reign supreme over the land. I wouldn't bet against the neocons stealing the election of 2008 using caging and other tried and true methods they have employed in the past.

It wasn't democrats who did the work to prove the fraud of electronic voting. The activists did their work for them, and the democratic politician who spoke loudest and earliest against the fraud, Cynthia McKinney, is no longer in office and was never supported by the Democratic Party.

This lack of courage and intellect in the Democratic Party is why I'm not a democrat.

The theft of the election in 2000 was just the beginning of a long line of deceptions Americans weren't smart enough to figure out.

The problem with America isn't George Bush. The problem with America is Americans.

I agree that the problem with America is Americans. I do not understand though, why the Democrats did little or nothing about this. After I read Robert Kennedy Jr's report in Rolling Stone, about two years ago, I was stunned, but thought well, it's out in the open and they can't yell "moonbat" anymore. Something will be done now.

Nah.

[evince]

ITS THE MEDIA!

They wont report on it so most people dont know about it.

If they dont hear it on the news or see it in their home paper they think its fringe.

[evince]

This is why the Neo cons worked so hard to convience people the media has a liberal bias.

They dumped the fairness act so they could say anything they want on talk radio no matter how big of an idiotic lie it was.

Then Rush and team went to work conviencing the stupid that the media has a liberal bias so they could smear any news story which hurt the right (and facts tend to do that) with a Bias label.

Then they consolidated the media in to fewer hands of the mega wealthy so they could have "friends" running the media.

The best thing that happen in that time was the internets, that series of tubes which very likely helped up to keep America a democracy.

The fight aint over yet.