Spatula recently reported that electronic voting machines are hackable. The state of Wisconsin has started taking steps to fix this terrible problem. They already had a law on the books requiring such machines to maintain their results even in the event of a power outage, and to produce a paper ballot that could be used for a recount, if necessary.
This new law, enacted on Wednesday, January 4th 2006, further requires the source code of the voting machines to be provided to any citizen who requests it. Furthermore, the paper ballot produced must be verified by the voter before it is filed.
I say that it's about time. Though this is not enough by itself to protect voters from e-voting fraud, it is the first step toward securing our democracy in the digital age. It is also a resounding message to the voting machine manufacturers who have been playing games with us for several years. Now all we need is more states to follow in Wisconsin's footsteps.
There has, so far as I know, been no official response from the manufacturers of e-voting machines. I'm just waiting for Diebold's hissy fit about being forced to show their "proprietary code" to the public, followed shortly by the filing of a law suit to block the new law. Fortunately, this law leaves the local voting precints the responsiblity of providing the source code, leaving the manufacturer out of the loop entirely. At least that is one part of the process Diebold can't mess around with, the possible future law suit not withstanding.
