Voting Machines - are you worried?

Question

Given that a Republican-led company (Diebold) provides the government with the voting machines, their chairman (a party member) dismisses any problems with the security of these machines, non-partisan computer experts all agree that there is a potential security problem with these machines, there is no paper trail to ensure no tampering has taken place, no recounts are possible, there is currently no legislation requiring secure voting systems, and there were hints of tampering allegations during the last presidential election...

How can we trust that our votes are being counted without stringent laws governing the use of electronic machines? Shouldn't the firewalls for these machines be tighter than NORADs??

Where is the public outcry? What is the media's responsibility in this case?

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0828-08.htm

http://csdl2.computer.org/persagen/DLAbsToc.jsp?resourcePath=/dl/mags/sp/&toc=comp/mags/sp/2004/01/j1toc.xml&DOI=10.1109/MSECP.2004.1264851

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=1301313

Answer 1

I think there is reason to be concerned, even if it was a democratic company that produced these machines. Anytime that a fair and honest election is put in as much doubt as the last presidential election there is a problem. When one party or both finds it so important to have their person in office that they hurt the integrity of the election it is wrong. We are the show case for democracy and we will convert more governments to change to our example if our elections are fair, open and honest. Invasion and war is not the way to accomplish these goals.

Answer 2

I am not for computers to cast our vote at the ballot box. What's so hard with using paper and a No. 2 pencil? That is what we use in our state and we don't have any problems. We need to do away with any kind of machine and just use good old paper and pencil. It's cost effective for every state in the union to switch to and reliable. Computers will never be full proof or fully reliable. (And it's not a Republican/Democrat thing.) But I will tell you that there is no public outcry b/c the majority of people in this country do not participate in the process. And the media has no responsibility to educate the citizens. The citizens need to take responsibility and educate themselves about this great privilege that is taken for granted - voting. So, you start telling your friends to vote and I will tell mine. It doesn't matter the party affiliation. What matters is that Americans participate in the process! Then you will see the outcry as people come to understand how important it is.

Answer 3

Democrats will pull off voter fraud whether there are voting machines or not: Chicago, St. Louis, South Dakota, and other places.
LBJ thanked the dead people who voted for him in alphabetical order.
He thought it was funny.
Joe Kennedy bragged about buying the election for son, JFK.
The real question is: why do Republicans let the Democrats get by with it?

Answer 4

Diebold helped Canada and Mexico in there last elections and conservatives won? I am very concerned for the results of our next election. They are coming up with numbers that are statistically impossible!

Answer 5

I am somewhat worried. The machines need to be independantly verifiable. And penalties for inaccurate voting need to be severe.

Answer 6

The federal Government doesn't have any voting machines. EACH INDIVIDUAL state buys its machines
from any vendor it chooses... That means the blue states as well. So I could use your own argument that the states infested with democrats could cheat with their machines...

Answer 7

I only worry about moronic LIBERALS and Democrat LOSERS around any machine!

Answer 8

I don't believe any of your "givens." Prove them.

Answer 9

not scared, but I would be if I lived in the ghetto...