Report: State systems for overseas voters vulnerable [USA Today]

Report: State systems for overseas voters vulnerable

A report on state voter systems evaluates each state on five criteria: 1) paper ballots or a paper record of electronic votes; 2) paper backup for electronic return of overseas ballots; 3) contingency plans at polling places if machines fail; 4) reconciliation of voter lists with vote/ballot totals; and 5) post-election audit of vote tallies. --->>> How the states rate

Full Report: http://www.commoncause.org/countingvotes2012
 

Australia: More electronic voting to ensure smooth election

More electronic voting to ensure smooth election

The ACT Electoral Commission is expanding its computer-based systems for October's Legislative Assembly election. --->>>

Alberta: Local municipalities ponder move to Internet voting

Local municipalities ponder move to Internet voting

Edmonton, St. Albert and Strathcona County want to push ahead with Alberta's first test of Internet voting during next year's civic election.

The three communities are interested in allowing people who can't reach a regular polling booth to vote online instead of mailing in their ballots, says a report released Thursday.

The move requires a change to the provincial Local Authorities Election Act, and though Alberta Municipal Affairs is interested, it needs letters of support from councillors before it will act. --->>>

France intros online voting for overseas deputies

France intros online voting for overseas deputies

France is using online voting to enfranchise citizens living abroad, Le Monde reports. The system will enable users to vote for 11 deputies with international constituencies for the first time. Over 1 million French voters live outside the country. --->>>

Internet voting still faces hurdles in US

Internet voting still faces hurdles in US

Pressure is building to make Internet voting widely available in the United States and elsewhere, even though technical experts say casting ballots online is far from secure.

In the 2012 US elections, more than two dozen states will accept some form of electronic or faxed ballots, mostly from military or overseas voters, according to the Verified Voting Foundation.

But there is a growing expectation that online voting will expand further. --->>>

Ontario: AODA Alliance launches campaign to make voting more accessible for the disabled.

AODA Alliance launches campaign to make voting more accessible for the disabled.

With a provincial byelection looming in Kitchener-Waterloo, the push is on to make voting more accessible for the disabled.

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Alliance has launched a campaign in hopes of convincing Elections Ontario to offer telephone and internet voting. --->>>

Framing the internet voting security debate

Framing the internet voting security debate

The consensus of computer technologists, election officials, and other experts in voting technology holds that internet voting is very, very, hard. While I certainly agree with that assessment, it’s worth noting that the term “hard” is rather ambiguous. Indeed, one of the biggest issues with the internet voting debate right now is that we’re missing the implication of how this word should guide our research. This difficulty shouldn’t motivate us to give up, but rather to re-think our approach to solving the problem. --->>>

E-volving Democracy: Public Dialogue on Online Voting

E-volving Democracy: Public Dialogue on Online Voting

On May 26, PartyX and Fair Voting BC will host an interactive dialogue session on online voting. Participants will look at the risks associated with a web-based decision-making process – and how trust can potentially be built into a system. --->>>

Switzerland: Security questions hang over e-voting plans

Security questions hang over e-voting plans

Swiss e-voting systems lack transparency and are vulnerable to attack by malevolent software, a study has found.

The authorities are looking for solutions but officials point out that there is no such thing as absolute security, even with the traditional ballot paper vote. --->>>

Can Online Voting Become the Norm, Democratizing the Election Process?

Can Online Voting Become the Norm, Democratizing the Election Process?

"Advocates for Internet voting make compelling arguments about the transformative potential online voting can have on the electoral process. In short, from real time updates to flexibility of location, online voting increases the accessibility and ease of the whole process." --->>>

Cyber attack on NDP leadership vote involved more than 10,000 computers

Cyber attack on NDP leadership vote involved more than 10,000 computers

A massive cyber attack involving more than 10,000 computers was behind the online voting chaos during Saturday’s NDP leadership vote, it was revealed today.

According to Scytl Canada, the company contracted by the party to conduct the vote, a deliberate large scale “distributed denial of service” (DDoS) attempted to deny NDP members access to the online balloting system. --->>>

Also see:

NDP Leadership: Online voting company blames delays on “orchestrated attempt to thwart democracy”



 

NDP Leadership Internet Vote Issues - Commentary by Jesse Hirst

Working out the kinks in on-line voting

Tech troubles slowed down the NDP leadership convention, and the same technology is coming to our Nova Scotia municipal elections. Jesse Hirst says, its important that we get this right.

Link to audio --->>>

NDP leadership vote fiasco

NDP hunts for source of cyber-attack on electronic voting system

Party president Rebecca Blaikie said Sunday that party officials, vote auditors and Scytl – the high-tech Spanish company hired to secure the electronic voting system – are still working to determine who was responsible. --->>>

NDP leadership: Officials mum about source of cyber-attack meant to disrupt online voting

New Democrats remained tight-lipped Sunday about the cyber-attack that kept the country waiting for hours at Saturday’s leadership convention.

Party brass refused to disclose the source of two Internet Protocol addresses that they say perpetrated an attack meant to disrupt its online voting system ...

Barbara Simons, a former advisory board member on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and co-author of the forthcoming book, Broken Ballots: Will Your Vote Count?, called on the NDP to conduct a public review of the fiasco.

“They really should have an investigation by an independent group of computer security experts, and they should make the results of the investigation public,” Simons said on the phone from California. --->>>

E-vote delays snarl leadership vote; firm under scrutiny

E-vote delays snarl leadership vote; firm under scrutiny

The Spanish company hired to oversee online voting in the NDP leadership contest Saturday found itself under scrutiny when its system failed dramatically, causing hours of delay for e-voters across the country. --->>>

Also: NDP says it knows IP addresses it has linked to cyber-attack

E-voting in listed firms set to take off

E-voting in listed firms set to take off

Thousands of small investors will soon get an opportunity to cast their votes on crucial corporate actions till the last minute, from the comforts of their home or office.

Central Depository Services Ltd (CDSL) and National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL), have been certified for user-friendliness and security in facilitating such transactions. --->>>

Academy moves toward e-voting: Org enters agreement to develop system for 85th Academy Awards

Academy moves toward e-voting: Org enters agreement to develop system for 85th Academy Awards

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is one step closer to an electronic voting system, announcing Wednesday that it has entered into an agreement with Everyone Counts Inc. to exclusively develop a system for the 85th Academy Awards. Everyone Counts will work with PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Academy's accounting firm of record, whose role in tabulating Academy members' votes will remain unchanged. Over the next year, the Academy will undertake a rigorous security and user-acceptance testing process. --->>>

Press Release: Microsoft Enables Online Voting For Overseas Citizens

Microsoft Enables Online Voting For Overseas Citizens

LiveBallot, based on Microsoft’s Windows Azure cloud computing system and developed by Democracy Live, allows voters who are overseas the chance to vote in a simple and easy way. The system has been in use since December for soldiers who are overseas, but will be used in the upcoming Florida primary. --->>>

Also see: Three States Roll Out Electronic Ballots
"One thing to remember: this isn’t Internet voting. The logins generally are based on a name and birth date (basically what’s in the voter registration database) and the voter only gets a ballot, not a vote. The vote itself still has to be mailed or faxed in, just as before. This obviates the need for really heavy security. (The security concerns are basically those of paper ballots at that point). Even so, it is a step in getting absentee ballots to people who are in places that getting mail is a problem."

Press Release: Survey & Ballot Systems (SBS) launches The Election Experts

Survey & Ballot Systems (SBS) launches The Election Experts – A blog dedicated to helping member-based organizations with online voting, elections and surveys.

The Election Experts will be updated twice per week and will offer advice regarding online voting, elections and surveys for associations, cooperatives, unions, financial institutions and other member-based organizations. Recent election news, technology and case studies will also be spotlighted. --->>>

Blog url: http://www.surveyandballotsystems.com/resource-library/blog/

SCYTL Acquires SOE Software (Press Release)

SCYTL Acquires SOE Software

Spanish firm to provide e-voting service

Spanish firm to provide e-voting service

Council picked the cheaper — but not local — option to provide telephone and e-voting for the next election.

Scytl Secure Electronic Voting, a Spanish firm, bid $553,007 for the contract to distribute voter notification cards and two weeks of advance polling over the Internet and by phone for October’s municipal election. --->>>

Ireland: For sale: 7,500 e-vote machines, one careful state owner

For sale: 7,500 e-vote machines, one careful state owner

The January sales will take a fresh twist today when the Government announces plans to either sell off or recycle and scrap 7,500 e-voting machines.

Ministers are expected to discuss plans to bring an end to the debacle that has cost the taxpayer €55m. --->>> 

Ballot Secrecy Keeps Voting Technology at Bay

Ballot Secrecy Keeps Voting Technology at Bay

Voters in the recent Iowa caucuses and Tuesday's New Hampshire primary will rely on paper ballots as they have for generations. In the very next primary on January 21, South Carolinians will vote with backlit touch-screen computers. --->>>

E-voting machine freezes, misreads votes, U.S. agency says

E-voting machine freezes, misreads votes, U.S. agency says

DS200 optical scanner from ES&S doesn't meet federal standards, but remains certified, Election Assistance Commission says

Computerworld - An electronic ballot scanning device slated for use in the upcoming presidential elections, misreads ballots, fails to log critical events and is prone to freezes and sudden lockups, the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission has found.

The little noticed EAC report on the DS200 Precinct Count Optical Scanner in the Unity 3.2.0.0 voting system built by Election Systems & Software (ES&S) was released late last month. --->>>