5 ms·

Georgia election official: Machine glitch caused by last-minute vendor upload

34 points by AndrewBissell 6y ago

systemvoltage 6y ago
Are there any silicon valley / Y-Combinator companies focusing on election/voting infrastructure, services and hardware? State of Florida was given millions of dollars after 2000 Bush vs. Gore fiasco in revamping its voting infrastructure, I can't find the source of the exact amount. Besides the legal challenges in voting process, there seems to be a ton of low-hanging fruit in this industry from Technology standpoint. From automatic ballot opening machines to high volume processing of ballots, forgery detection, traceability, etc. I don't think electronic voting is a good idea, but I am curious what has been done in the "analog" voting process to improve its speed/efficiency, etc. Edit: Found the source of funding, Congress has approve $380 million for improving voting infrastructure in 2018: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/federal-funds-election-security-will-they-cover-costs-voter-marked-paper https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/fede...
infradig 6y ago
Ah, Dominion Voting Systems! Bringing their superior voting technology to the emergent democracies of the world, all with aid of the Clinton Foundation ( https://www.clintonfoundation.org/clinton-global-initiative/commitments/delian-project-democracy-through-technology https://www.clintonfoundation.org/clinton-global-initiative/... ).
- eesmith 6y ago
  And their lobbyists also donate to republicans. "Mitch McConnell takes checks from voting machine lobbyists — even as he blocks election security bills" - https://www.rawstory.com/2019/06/mitch-mcconnell-takes-checks-from-voting-machine-lobbyists-even-as-he-blocks-election-security-bills/ https://www.rawstory.com/2019/06/mitch-mcconnell-takes-check... > David Cohen, who lobbies for Dominion Voting Systems on issues related to election security and monitors federal legislation for the company, gave McConnell $2,000 on March 31: $1,000 to his campaign committee and $1,000 to his joint fundraising committee. Lobbyist Brain Wild, who works alongside Cohen on the Dominion contract, gave McConnell $1,000 on the same day. It's almost as if "Voting-Machine Lobbyists Undermine the Democratic Process" - https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/how-voting-machine-lobbyists-undermine-the-democratic-process https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/how-voti... Both our politickings aside, Dominion is one of the largest sellers of voting machines so there are good odds that if there's a problem then it's one of their machines.
  - AndrewBissell 6y ago
    As many have pointed out, Mitch McConnell also had a very good night on Election Day.
  - metiscus 6y ago
    I'm not sure that $5000 goes a long way with senators. Can you even buy a full page newspaper advert in a regional paper with that?
    - eesmith 6y ago
      Nor do I think the Clinton Foundation's mediation of the donation of Dominion Voting machines to the Canadian DELIAN Project goes a long way, no. My point is more one that simply showing a connection between X and Y means little on its own. That also doesn't mean there can't be an implication of being bought. As Trump described it in 2015: “I gave to many people, before this, before two months ago, I was a businessman. I give to everybody. When they call, I give. And do you know what? When I need something from them two years later, three years later, I call them, they are there for me. And that’s a broken system.”
- CapricornNoble 6y ago
  Some commentary from HN in 2018, after DEF CON revealed voting system vulnerabilities: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18112172 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18112172
recursivedoubts 6y ago
I'm not a huge fan of most blockchain applications, but it seems like recording votes in an election would be a reasonable application of the technology.
- wilkystyle 6y ago
  Curious why this comment was downvoted; is it because of the sentiment on most blockchain applications, or because of a disagreement that recording votes in an election would be a reasonable application of the technology?
- khaki54 6y ago
  Would love to see something like this. You get a one time secret hash or key assigned when you vote, and a receipt, and then it’s recorded to public ledger where you can check your vote so you know it’s real and correct. Meanwhile everything is publicly countable.
  - tatersolid 6y ago
    Your system would allow you to sell your vote to the highest bidder with proof. A lot of really smart people have been working on this for decades. Electronic voting isn’t actually an easy problem.
sto_hristo 6y ago
Maybe it's just me, but when something like democratic elections for the dominant power of the World are at stake, a voting machine should be made a bit more solid and air tight. For example, make it read only in a way that no updates and BS can be pushed remotely at anyone's convenience. And if it needs to be updated, have a usb terminal unlocked via a physical key that the officials will have with them. Download an update imagine to any USB, plug it in, et voila. Anything, anything other than live updates will be an improvement.
- AndrewBissell 6y ago
  These measures are all completely obvious, reasonable, and cheap and easy to implement. So, why do you think they're not being done?
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - tootahe45 6y ago
    Because vote tampering is a partisan issue.
    - AndrewBissell 6y ago
      On the contrary, it's the bipartisan stuff that's allowed to slip past the radar. If there's fire behind this smoke, the GOP insiders aren't going to want to look into it if it means calling attention to what they did in Ohio in 2004.
  - sto_hristo 6y ago
    At this point, having seen so much nonsense and idiocy on all levels and everywhere, i bet my money simply on laziness and stupidity. Guess some boss' favorite play thing has been promoted to project manager, cuz it's trendy, and the people that did the actual work just didn't care beyond the paycheck at the end of the month.
- hakfoo 6y ago

34 points by AndrewBissell 6y ago

Are there any silicon valley / Y-Combinator companies focusing on election/voting infrastructure, services and hardware? State of Florida was given millions of dollars after 2000 Bush vs. Gore fiasco in revamping its voting infrastructure, I can't find the source of the exact amount. Besides the legal challenges in voting process, there seems to be a ton of low-hanging fruit in this industry from Technology standpoint. From automatic ballot opening machines to high volume processing of ballots, forgery detection, traceability, etc. I don't think electronic voting is a good idea, but I am curious what has been done in the "analog" voting process to improve its speed/efficiency, etc. Edit: Found the source of funding, Congress has approve $380 million for improving voting infrastructure in 2018: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/federal-funds-election-security-will-they-cover-costs-voter-marked-paper https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/fede...

infradig 6y ago

Ah, Dominion Voting Systems! Bringing their superior voting technology to the emergent democracies of the world, all with aid of the Clinton Foundation ( https://www.clintonfoundation.org/clinton-global-initiative/commitments/delian-project-democracy-through-technology https://www.clintonfoundation.org/clinton-global-initiative/... ).

eesmith 6y ago
And their lobbyists also donate to republicans. "Mitch McConnell takes checks from voting machine lobbyists — even as he blocks election security bills" - https://www.rawstory.com/2019/06/mitch-mcconnell-takes-checks-from-voting-machine-lobbyists-even-as-he-blocks-election-security-bills/ https://www.rawstory.com/2019/06/mitch-mcconnell-takes-check... > David Cohen, who lobbies for Dominion Voting Systems on issues related to election security and monitors federal legislation for the company, gave McConnell $2,000 on March 31: $1,000 to his campaign committee and $1,000 to his joint fundraising committee. Lobbyist Brain Wild, who works alongside Cohen on the Dominion contract, gave McConnell $1,000 on the same day. It's almost as if "Voting-Machine Lobbyists Undermine the Democratic Process" - https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/how-voting-machine-lobbyists-undermine-the-democratic-process https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/how-voti... Both our politickings aside, Dominion is one of the largest sellers of voting machines so there are good odds that if there's a problem then it's one of their machines.
- AndrewBissell 6y ago
  As many have pointed out, Mitch McConnell also had a very good night on Election Day.
- metiscus 6y ago
  I'm not sure that $5000 goes a long way with senators. Can you even buy a full page newspaper advert in a regional paper with that?
  - eesmith 6y ago
    Nor do I think the Clinton Foundation's mediation of the donation of Dominion Voting machines to the Canadian DELIAN Project goes a long way, no. My point is more one that simply showing a connection between X and Y means little on its own. That also doesn't mean there can't be an implication of being bought. As Trump described it in 2015: “I gave to many people, before this, before two months ago, I was a businessman. I give to everybody. When they call, I give. And do you know what? When I need something from them two years later, three years later, I call them, they are there for me. And that’s a broken system.”
CapricornNoble 6y ago
Some commentary from HN in 2018, after DEF CON revealed voting system vulnerabilities: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18112172 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18112172

recursivedoubts 6y ago

I'm not a huge fan of most blockchain applications, but it seems like recording votes in an election would be a reasonable application of the technology.

wilkystyle 6y ago
Curious why this comment was downvoted; is it because of the sentiment on most blockchain applications, or because of a disagreement that recording votes in an election would be a reasonable application of the technology?
khaki54 6y ago
Would love to see something like this. You get a one time secret hash or key assigned when you vote, and a receipt, and then it’s recorded to public ledger where you can check your vote so you know it’s real and correct. Meanwhile everything is publicly countable.
- tatersolid 6y ago
  Your system would allow you to sell your vote to the highest bidder with proof. A lot of really smart people have been working on this for decades. Electronic voting isn’t actually an easy problem.

sto_hristo 6y ago

Maybe it's just me, but when something like democratic elections for the dominant power of the World are at stake, a voting machine should be made a bit more solid and air tight. For example, make it read only in a way that no updates and BS can be pushed remotely at anyone's convenience. And if it needs to be updated, have a usb terminal unlocked via a physical key that the officials will have with them. Download an update imagine to any USB, plug it in, et voila. Anything, anything other than live updates will be an improvement.

AndrewBissell 6y ago
These measures are all completely obvious, reasonable, and cheap and easy to implement. So, why do you think they're not being done?
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- tootahe45 6y ago
  Because vote tampering is a partisan issue.
  - AndrewBissell 6y ago
    On the contrary, it's the bipartisan stuff that's allowed to slip past the radar. If there's fire behind this smoke, the GOP insiders aren't going to want to look into it if it means calling attention to what they did in Ohio in 2004.
- sto_hristo 6y ago
  At this point, having seen so much nonsense and idiocy on all levels and everywhere, i bet my money simply on laziness and stupidity. Guess some boss' favorite play thing has been promoted to project manager, cuz it's trendy, and the people that did the actual work just didn't care beyond the paycheck at the end of the month.
hakfoo 6y ago