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Feature: Government
Irish gov't says, 'No source code, no e-voting'
By By Fergus Cassidy
on
May 03, 2004 (8:00:00 AM)
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Dublin, Ireland - Ireland has pressed the abort button on electronic voting. In a humiliating
climb down, the government has accepted the conclusions of a commission
hastily set up to examine the secrecy and accuracy of the system planned for
use in next month's local and European parliamentary elections.
The Commission on Electronic Voting reported that it did not obtain access
to the full source code and there is not sufficient time before the June
elections to allow a full code review of the final version of the software
that would be necessary.
That lack of time is believed to hinge on the inability of the government and the source code vendors to reach an agreement on releasing the code to third parties for testing and review.
The government has spent Euro50m ($60m) on the machines and voting software and a further Euro5m ($5.9m) was earmarked for a national publicity campaign, which has now been abandoned.
Although the voting machines were bought outright by the State, the source code remains the property of the Nedap/Powervote consortium and was only leased to the government.
It is believed that a stand-off existed between the consortium and the government over the release of the source code to third parties. Nedap/Powervote sought a Euro200m ($239m) indemnity from the State before it would supply the code.
The Government agreed to offer the indemnity but the Irish parliament could not pass the required legislation in time.
Such legislation would have indemnified Nedap/Powervote for any loss or damage in respect of intellectual property rights or other loss or damage that may have arisen.
Voting will now take place using traditional paper and ballot boxes.
In related news, The Economic Times of India reports that a retired computer science professor has lodged a public interest litigation with the Indian Supreme Court. Dr Satinath Choudhary is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology and has also taught in the US.
India, with a population of over 1bn, is currently holding elections for the first time using machines.
Citing security risks, the litigation seeks the Supreme Court's intervention and direction to bar the Electoral Commission from using the voting machines. Dr Choudhary is also looking for a paper trail or record in case of a suspicion about the poll results.
Fergus Cassidy is a technology columnist with The Sunday Tribune.
That lack of time is believed to hinge on the inability of the government and the source code vendors to reach an agreement on releasing the code to third parties for testing and review.
The government has spent Euro50m ($60m) on the machines and voting software and a further Euro5m ($5.9m) was earmarked for a national publicity campaign, which has now been abandoned.
Although the voting machines were bought outright by the State, the source code remains the property of the Nedap/Powervote consortium and was only leased to the government.
It is believed that a stand-off existed between the consortium and the government over the release of the source code to third parties. Nedap/Powervote sought a Euro200m ($239m) indemnity from the State before it would supply the code.
The Government agreed to offer the indemnity but the Irish parliament could not pass the required legislation in time.
Such legislation would have indemnified Nedap/Powervote for any loss or damage in respect of intellectual property rights or other loss or damage that may have arisen.
Voting will now take place using traditional paper and ballot boxes.
In related news, The Economic Times of India reports that a retired computer science professor has lodged a public interest litigation with the Indian Supreme Court. Dr Satinath Choudhary is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology and has also taught in the US.
India, with a population of over 1bn, is currently holding elections for the first time using machines.
Citing security risks, the litigation seeks the Supreme Court's intervention and direction to bar the Electoral Commission from using the voting machines. Dr Choudhary is also looking for a paper trail or record in case of a suspicion about the poll results.
Fergus Cassidy is a technology columnist with The Sunday Tribune.
Comments
on Irish gov't says, 'No source code, no e-voting'Note: Comments are owned by the poster. We are not responsible for their content.
It's a lot harder to bias a army of people counting votes than compromise a computer system.
I think the big problem with evoting systems is that gov'ts are buying them. Have you ever seen a gov't RFP? or been involved in any gov't effort for a large computerized system?
Here in Canada, somebody made the right choice of taking a little bite. We mark the choices on a paper, and this is feed thru a scanner that looks like a shredder before it goes into the ballot box.
I think the next choice could be voting from your residence using a security code that was emailed (or snail-mailed) to you. We are doing income tax like that, and this could be verified through logs. After all, if the RIAA is suing grandma's with this evidence, it's good enough for voting...
No, it is not good enough for voting. Voting from home makes it all too easy for someone to be 'helping' grandma over her shoulder, and thus getting two votes for him/her self, and none for grandma. It also makes vote selling possible.
I believe the only acceptable alternative is a paper copy, that can be viewed and verified by the voter, but cannot be taken away or seen by anyone else while the voter is still present. Then we need random audit checks, to make sure the numbers counted by the voting machine match the number of ballots, with full recounts if the accuracy does not meet a pre-defined standard.
I believe the only acceptable alternative is a paper copy, that can be viewed and verified by the voter, but cannot be taken away or seen by anyone else while the voter is still present. Then we need random audit checks, to make sure the numbers counted by the voting machine match the number of ballots, with full recounts if the accuracy does not meet a pre-defined standard.
They are also doing vote by fax in Canada.
Apparently its quite secure but its not catching
on with the older population so it might get scraped.
Apparently its quite secure but its not catching
on with the older population so it might get scraped.
We can transact hundreds of billions in 'net sales yearly, but we can't create a dependable, verifiable electronic voting system? That's crazy.
Ah, but it wasn't money that made the BOFH the BOFH...getting elected is power.
getting elected is power
Sure it is, but if the implication is that low down dirty scoundrels will steal an election, and the constiuency will just stand still for it, I think somebody's in for a rude awakening.
Even in a psuedo democracy, you can't just legislate as your whims and pocket book dictate without taking the very real risk of being drawn and quartered for sport.
Sure it is, but if the implication is that low down dirty scoundrels will steal an election, and the constiuency will just stand still for it, I think somebody's in for a rude awakening.
Even in a psuedo democracy, you can't just legislate as your whims and pocket book dictate without taking the very real risk of being drawn and quartered for sport.
...if the implication is that low down dirty scoundrels will steal an election, and the constiuency will just stand still for it...
That was not my intent; I was trying to make the point that wanting to get elected is not about money, but about power.
Your main point, thought, is made. There are legitimate questions about the validity of the 2002 e-voting results in Georgia (one point of view <A HREF="http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0212-11.htm" TITLE="commondreams.org">here</a commondreams.org>) and the people are up in arms.
I was trying to make the point that wanting to get elected is not about money, but about power.
Wow, I must be shooting blanks here, because I thought that money is power, and failed to make the distinction. I'm stupid that way some days, and will concede your point that the alpha males really want the power.
Wow, I must be shooting blanks here, because I thought that money is power, and failed to make the distinction. I'm stupid that way some days, and will concede your point that the alpha males really want the power.
Irish gov't says, 'No source code, no e-voting'
Posted by: Anonymous [ip: 65.12.156.13] on October 06, 2007 09:02 PM
It has been proven over and over that e-voting was rigged in both the 2004 and 2006 (and probably before that) elections. Without the software being open source and transparent there is no way you can guarantee the accuracy of the vote.
E-voting is a bad idea anyway
Posted by: Anonymous Coward on May 03, 2004 08:51 PMFaster, cheaper, and better is not always "better" - slow and awkward has its merits in some circumstances, such as justice, courtship and elections.
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