Suit asks to see inside vote machine

[DoYouEverWonder]

December 20, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - A Leon County circuit judge is considering whether to force a private voting machine company to reveal the inner workings of its machines.

That narrow question has broad implications for the often tense relationship between public officials that run elections and private companies whose machines actually count the votes.

State law in Florida and elsewhere protects the insides of voting machines from the public eye in deference to voting machine makers, who say such information amounts to a company's trade secret.

But the disputed Sarasota congressional race between Democrat Christine Jennings and Republican Vern Buchanan is challenging that law.

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/12/20/State/Suit_asks_to_see_insi.shtml

What amounts to company trade secrets is how the votes are flipped and disappeared.

[magellan]

1. I'm curious

Do the makers of lever machines consider the innards of their machines -- specifically the mechanism that counts the votes -- proprietary? Is the lever machine process transparent? I suspect that it is, that anyone who wants to understand how a lever machine works can do so without running up against a part that the maker won't allow them to see, but I might be wrong.

[annabanana]

2. Back when the lever machines were designed....

It would never have occurred to the manufacturer to conceal the mechanics of it's operation. I suspect that the details were a selling point, and widely available.

[magellan]

3. So the transparency was probably a selling point?

That makes sense. So it would seem the "proprietary" crap about our current election software is unprecedented in our elections history.

Would that the age of honor and respect for our core democratic values return.

[LiberalFighter]

15. Didn't have to support from the company either.

Maintenance and repair was done by the local government's maintenance crew.

[Stevepol]

4. K&R! Proud to be #5!

[Canuckistanian]

5. I hope that includes software, as well

The hardware would be easy enough to figure out. It's the software that's doing the real work of flipping votes and changing vote totals.

[Peace Patriot]

6. Damned straight! We need to get inside all of these voting machines.

"Trade secret," proprietary "vote counting" is not okay, never was okay, and will never be okay in the future.

And that is not even to mention WHO owns and controls the secret vote counting code.

Boy, have we been had.

[rman]

7. trade secret is rediculous for something as simple as counting

how many times various buttons are being pushed.

[DoYouEverWonder]

8. They don't want people to see

that they are getting ripped off for a program that a 4th grader can write in MS Access.

[napi21]

9. There's something about all the mystery re: this SW that I question.

There are many data experts who can analize any SW and even reconstructseemingly lost data. WHY can't some of themjust do that with THIS voting SW? MJaybe some College somewhere could do that. Just buy a voting machine, and break the darn securitywall andanalize the SW on it.

[formercia]

10. Copyright Law

restricts reverse engineering.

[krispos42]

11. Just take the machine out on a little sailing trip

Somewhere past the 12-mile limit in the Atlantic or Pacific. Outside US law. THEN crack the damn thing open.

[napi21]

12. So they could do it and keep their mouth shut until they're done!

I suspect if a crime is uncovered, copyright law wouldn't matter, and if there is no crime, the researchers just remain quiet about what they did!

[formercia]

13. The point is:

Doing something illegal might jeopardize future litigation.

Copyright law needs to be amended to allow such investigations where it is probable there was malfeasance.

[DoYouEverWonder]

16. The states could write contracts

with these companies that require them to allow the state to audit their programming.

Better yet, just get rid of these overpriced hunks of junk and go back to pen and paper.

[loudsue]

14. Someone needs to pull that judge aside & edumacate him

on what might be the repercussions of that "proprietary software" on elections that, someday, he, himself, might be subject to.

It's waaaayyyyy past time for these machines to be investigated...as is, software and all.

:kick::kick::kick:

[tbyg52]

17. They either lay out *all* the workings of their machines

or we vote on something else. Period. Since they're never *really* gonna do that--PAPER BALLOTS, HAND COUNTED!!