For the first time in history, the Philippine national elections to be held in 2010 will use an automated (electronic) polling system. At this point in time, our lawmakers are debating on the issue of security of the voting machines that will be used in the polls. One Senator even filed a resolution to set aside 100 million pesos (more than $2 million) to anyone who can convincingly hack the new polling system.In a country filled with dishonest government officials, there’s no doubt that there are people out there who would do anything in order for them to win the election. So to prevent fraud from happening or at least minimize it, I have two simple suggestions:
1. Use Open Source
Utilizing open source software will contribute to a more transparent automated system as anyone with the knowledge can read and review the code and determine if the system is capable enough or find out if it’s being manipulated.
2. Use Linux
We all know how secure an operating system Linux is when compared to the more widely used Windows. So I think one of the best ways to achieve an extra-reliable hard-to-hack automated polling system is simply to use Linux.
To our dear readers, please share with us your views regarding this matter via comment.
One other thing -- people should focus on the current issue and not on politicians as celebrity. Voting is only the beginning -- people are obligated to work towards the GOALS and OBJECTIVES of politicians they voted otherwise everything becomes a comedy.
Linux would do best to stay well clear - why get tarred with that brush eh?
FOSS is only as secure as the person in control -- and only IF what you think is being used is actually being used. It's very easy to adjust a FOSS app a tiny bit to thwart its intended effect.
http://humtp.com/
This was only for "verification" purposes, but it could easily be adapted for a complete voting system:
www.tevsystems.com
...local software programmer Mitch Trachtenberg, who developed the simple, transparent, open-source optical-scan software, using off-the-shelf hardware for the citizen's project --- including the ability to post all scanned ballots onto the web for citizen review --- may have inadvertently revealed the scam perpetuated by the nation's electronic voting machine vendor's who were allocated some $3.9 billion federal tax dollars for their efforts at creating proprietary systems, which don't even work as promised...or as required by federal law...
You can read his entire review of the project on his website bradblog dot com
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6733
I vote absentee every year so that I am assured a nice paper ballot.
Any one who wants to make EV proprietary or does not want it at all is trying to screw you.
My bank knows who I am if I want to withdraw money. Surely figuring out who's supposed to vote shouldn't be rocket science.
For one, I believe it can identify voters, and that is a very dangerous thing.
Another reason, being fully electronic, no one can guarantee if a tampering has been made. If you change the tally, how could one tell if the vote was changed. It´s all vapourware.
Without phisical audit trail options, no voting system can be trusted, being open or not. Remenber: Nothing is more open than a paper ballot alone - than again, history has tought us that nothing is more prone to fraud than it.