Remote voting is an issue. Internet voting is not deemed secure. Multiple investigators and Verified Voting have called for the use of paper ballots. Paper ballots are a wonderful backup system, useful in a recount to verify a second record of voter choice. They are, however, not as useful in remote voting as smartphones. Smartphones use a reliable network when one is available. Smartphones can make sure the ballot is delivered to the proper voting authority in time to count as a vote in the election.
Paper ballots are difficult to transport securely. Paper ballots are difficult and expensive to count. Voters can overvote and thereby spoil their paper ballots. Smartphones eliminate mistakes in marking the ballot, smartphones prevent overvoting. Counting paper ballots by hand is expensive, very expensive, and difficult to get the same count twice, making them vulnerable to challenges. Extraneous marks put on the paper ballot, marks sometimes put on surreptitiously by opponents intent on changing the election outcome, can result in spoiled ballots, lost votes.
Other problems exist in election systems. The Coalition for Good Governance, which advocates for election security and integrity, filed a lawsuit against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and members of the State Election Board. It claims that the current configuration of the Dominion election system presents a threat to voters’ right to have their votes counted as cast.
It spawned a federal expert report that identified vulnerabilities in the election system. A federal cybersecurity agency issued an advisory to call for better controls over systems calling for an investigation of a breach of election equipment in a rural south Georgia county, which has resulted in criminal charges for several people.
Internet voting is a choice for remote voting. Critics say that the problem with Internet voting is that if you do not have Internet you cannot vote. There is the risk that someone could turn off the Internet to control access to voting.
Voting depends on reliable communications with technology. Remote voting is dependent on a reliable connection to a network. The wireless networks are reliable enough for voting, but the Internet is not. The distinction between the Internet and smartphones is the heart of the issue. With remote voting, communities need safe and secure elections. Smartphones can rely on a stable wireless network to communicate end-to-end to servers in the election systems.
This is a daily news summary representing conversations about some aspect of voting technology innovation or implementation. Susan Eustis learned about voting when she was 5 years old. Her father was head of manufacturing for AVM. Susan Huhn Eustis used to take the high-paid AVM consultants horseback riding at age 9. She would tell them their new voting machine designs were wrong. In her 20's she invented the first electronic voting machine.
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Note on Methodology: Most of the material presented comes from 20 sources or more and there is an attempt by the author to find common ground between the different sources.
This post is in response to a story on https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/ics-advisories/icsa-22-154-01