Democrats ask court to void Shelby County Tennessee’s August election. Vote-total discrepancies not mere error, suit alleges…On Australia’s national cliffhanger: “It’s not a good sign when the best way out may be a fresh election.”…Verified Voting “On India’s Electronic Voting Controversy”. India’s officials should address the voting machine vulnerabilities rather than punish experts who reveal…
For Americans who care about verified elections, recent events in India are resonant. Verified Voting applauds the advocates, ordinary citizens and technologists who are working for accountable voting in the world’s largest democracy. We support calls for the government of India to 1) engage constructively, rather than persecute, technologists who have conducted critical research on Indian voting systems; and 2) take immediate steps toward a verifiable voting process suited to India’s needs.
A bit of background for Americans who have not yet tuned in to the controversy: India adopted a nationwide system of paperless direct-recording electronic voting machines in 2004. Early on, some Indian computer security experts pointed to the inherent vulnerability of a purely electronic voting process, and a number of journalists and candidates for office raised concerns. The machines in India are much simpler than those used in America, but are no less vulnerable to wholesale attacks originating from the voting system vendor, and are prone to a number of serious machine-by-machine “retail” attacks.