Linux News Forge: "Advocates Urge Adherence to NC Voting Code Law"

[KoKo]

NewsForge
The Online Newspaper for Linux and Open Source
http://trends.newsforge.com/
Advocates urge adherence to North Carolina voting code
2006.01.15 7:00
Jay Lyman



Advocates for transparency in electronic voting systems praise North Carolina's Public Confidence in Elections law that requires rigorous review of the code used in the state's certified elections software. They just wish North Carolina elections officials would adhere to the legislation.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has sued the state's Board of Elections and Office of IT Services on behalf of voting integrity advocate Joyce McCloy for certifying Diebold systems for use in the state without the legally required review.

While they concede the legislation is perhaps the most rigorous review of e-voting code required in the US -- it requires code review based on nine criteria, including code and application security -- transparency proponents fear that North Carolina lawmakers will fold under pressure from e-voting system vendors, including Diebold, and undo the requirements.

"The election code is very good on the transparency side," EFF staff attorney Matt Zimmerman told NewsForge. "It shouldn't be thrown out because a company can't comply, and I hope elections officials don't cringe. This is a very stringent election code -- the most stringent in the country. Part of the problem with new systems is that the law, in a lot of places, simply hasn't caught up to the technology."

Despite Diebold's arguments that the North Carolina law is overly broad, Diebold Director of Marketing Mark Radke told NewsForge the company has not fought a thorough review of its systems and code. "In fact, just the opposite is true," Radke wrote in an email. "Our systems have been reviewed more than any other electronic voting system in the marketplace, and are viewed as secure and reliable."

That contention may be arguable, considering past reports on Diebold code, including Johns Hopkins University professor and e-voting expert Avi Rubin's critical review. In an email, Rubin said Diebold's contentions that their systems are among the most thoroughly tested and trustworthy in the country reflect how poorly voting systems have been tested in general in the US.

"When we looked through the Diebold source code, we found it to be poorly written and incomplete," Rubin said. "If their systems are truly among the most rigorously tested and trustworthy, then we are all in a lot of trouble."

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http://trends.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=06/01/13/1759225