People goes to the polls for Parliament elections on Monday, but results are likely not ready before Tuesday. Computer counting alone is not enough. The Norwegian National Security Authority (NSM) and the Police Security Service (PST) have together with the Directorate of Elections made risk and vulnerability assessments. The government says there are no indications that anyone has attempted to affect the conduct of the elections in any way. However, the government says in a statement, «there are increasing activity and attention, both domestically and internationally, around some of the technical solutions in place. This is in and of itself a source of elevated risk.»
Norway is the second country in Europe to change the way it counts votes. The Netherlands decided to count its March 15 parliamentary elections manually after broadcaster RTL interviewed security experts and hackers who said software security was weak. One hacker claimed an average iPad is better protected than the Dutch electoral system.
In Norway, all municipalities will have to count the votes manually after polling stations close at 8 pm on Monday. Most of the work associated with the conduct of elections takes place at the municipal level. After counting, the physical ballots are stored, allowing for the possibility of a recount should there be any doubt as to the accuracy of the original count.
Minister of Local Government and Modernization, Jan Tore Sanner, says security measures also for computer systems will a be enhanced.
Full Article: Norwegian votes to be counted manually in fear of election hacking | The Independent Barents Observer.
