E-VOTING ON HOLD... SECURITY CONCERNS AMONG THE ISSUES

There is always a danger with integrating technology into our daily lives and areas of critical importance in our society. Of course technology is not evil, but the people behind it might be. People with the access and control of a technology can manipulate it for their direct or indirect gain. I can see a movie coming soon with a villain trying to control the presidency in 2040 when all voting systems are electronic. Naturally, Hollywood will have it be some Republican and probably the National Security Advisor since that White House position is always a favorite target of screenwriters.

Fight over e-voting leaves election plans as casualties

By Robert Lemos and Paul Festa
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
May 20, 2004, 5:26 AM PDT

Riverside County, Calif., has bet millions of dollars on high technology to secure the future of its elections, but officials are now discovering that there won't necessarily be a payoff anytime soon.

The county, in Southern California northeast of San Diego, signed on early to adopt touch-screen voting machines, known officially as direct recording electronic, or DRE, systems. But despite using them in 29 elections over four years, Riverside County may not be able to use them the next time around, because of objections from state election officials.

Riverside County is not alone. Across the country, election overseers are now asking tough questions about electronic voting systems, which were sold on the promise of delivering more-accurate results than earlier methods, such as the punch-card approach that led to the hanging-chad controversy during the 2000 presidential election. (full article)