21st century election using 19th century voting

@_Samantha_ Said

So train the staff a bit lol. If it makes it fairer and quicker and can be secure then why not? Paper voting isnt foolproof either. All I got was a form thing through the door, and no-one asked for proof of ID when I went to vote. If we'd moved house anyone could have used my vote.

@jonnythan Said

You're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. And that's ongoing costs you will incur every election as you have to maintain systems, provide security, etc.

There is really nothing wrong with paper ballots. They work, they're verifiable, they're recountable, they're secure. Paper is where it's at.

@jonnythan Said

Your system wouldn't really raise voter turnout all that much. People who want to vote will vote. People who don't won't.

Besides, the idea of putting something like that on the internet is, IMO, completely unworkable.

@boxerdc Said

If you go digital, can I vote there too?
I'm a pretty good hacker, I'll bet that I could!!

That said, the voting machines that we use here in my state were made in the 1950's and they use sealed counters that aren't too much different than the ones nightclub bouncers use to count people entering a club.. Mechanical, stable, and because they're sealed they can't be easily tampered with. They occasionally do get screwed up, but it's not common, and no system is foolproof..

And I have been happy to stand in the rain for an hour or so for my chance to vote many times.. Everyone in the world who has the privilege to vote should feel the same.

@jonnythan Said

Your system wouldn't really raise voter turnout all that much. People who want to vote will vote. People who don't won't.

Besides, the idea of putting something like that on the internet is, IMO, completely unworkable.

@SparklyKatie Said

So no sensitive data is ever sent via the net? Multi billion bank transfers are done digitally, I really don't see the problem.

@SparklyKatie Said

So no sensitive data is ever sent via the net? Multi billion bank transfers are done digitally, I really don't see the problem.

@jonnythan Said

Also, DOS attacks is a good point. Did you know that the world's largest commercial cloud computing services provider is actually the Conficker botnet?

Yeah. It's very sophisticated - you can go to websites and literally buy CPU power and bandwidth from virus-infected machines for your malware.

No network on earth could withstand a directed attack from a large portion of this botnet, let alone several botnets.

It would be a somewhat trivial matter to completely shut down the entire election system for days on command.

@jonnythan Said

Also, DOS attacks is a good point. Did you know that the world's largest commercial cloud computing services provider is actually the Conficker botnet?

Yeah. It's very sophisticated - you can go to websites and literally buy CPU power and bandwidth from virus-infected machines for your malware.

No network on earth could withstand a directed attack from a large portion of this botnet, let alone several botnets.

It would be a somewhat trivial matter to completely shut down the entire election system for days on command.

@_Samantha_ Said

I know f*** all about computers. But how do military defence networks stay secure then?