Dutch government scraps plans to use voting computers in 35 cities including Amsterdam

[TrogL]

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/30/europe/EU_GEN_Netherlands_Voting_Machines.php

Voters in Amsterdam and 34 other Dutch cities may be using paper and pencil instead of computerized voting machines in national elections next month.

The government on Monday banned the use of one common type of computer voting machine, fearing that secret ballots may not be kept secret. It ordered a review of all electronic machines after the Nov. 22 election.

Government Renewal Minister Atzo Nicolai said the move was necessary after an investigation found the machines made by Sdu NV emitted radio signals that a technology-savvy spy could use to peek at a voters' choices from a distance of up to several dozen meters (yards).

Has anybody checked Diebold machines?

Somebody should have thought of this before. Many eons ago there was a computer game for the Vic20 (yes, I'm old) that created its sounds by having you put an AM radio next to the computer and it would pick up the RF interference.

My Sun servers are somewhat shielded in an attempt to block the worst of the RF, but PC's rarely have anything of this calibre. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if the voting machines put out a characteristic radio signature for certain operations that could be sensed with the same technology used to detect lightning.