If there is one thing I fail to understand it is the impulse to electronic-ify our elections.
Why? Do we have a history of securing computers and keeping them secure over time? No.
Are computerized elections understandable to laypersons? No. Worse; even if the election was tallied faithfully by a computerized system, a demagogic candidate can whip up fervour and call the election into question.
And without bug bounties there is no legal way for whitehats to pentest these things. We're stuck with shitty scans and guessing at best. Even so, from what I've seen I fail to see why we should trust these votings systems.
But the public doesn't care. They don't understand that code is just data and it can alter itself. The voting machine industry has lobbyists. The paper ballot industry doesn't exist.
Why? Do we have a history of securing computers and keeping them secure over time? No.
Are computerized elections understandable to laypersons? No. Worse; even if the election was tallied faithfully by a computerized system, a demagogic candidate can whip up fervour and call the election into question.
And without bug bounties there is no legal way for whitehats to pentest these things. We're stuck with shitty scans and guessing at best. Even so, from what I've seen I fail to see why we should trust these votings systems.
But the public doesn't care. They don't understand that code is just data and it can alter itself. The voting machine industry has lobbyists. The paper ballot industry doesn't exist.