Electronic Voting's Vulnerability to Tampering Could Undermine Public Confidence in Machinery of Democracy

Interview with Bev Harris, author of "Black Box Voting, Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century," conducted by Scott Harris

In response to the controversial outcome of the 2000 presidential election and the flawed paper ballots and "hanging chads" that disenfranchised tens of thousands of voters in Florida, Congress allocated billions of dollars to modernize the nation's voting machinery. But as new electronic voting machine systems are being purchased and put to use they have come under greater scrutiny. Computer specialists analyzing equipment being purchased by the state of Maryland from the Diebold Election Systems company, issued a report which found this technology is at high risk of compromise and vulnerable to computer hackers and voting fraud.

The report prepared for Maryland by the Science Applications International Corporation confirmed an earlier examination of Diebold equipment that concluded security gaps in the machines could be exploited to let people vote many times or change their vote after they are cast. But despite these warnings of security flaws, Maryland officials are proceeding with the purchase of Diebold machines.

Currently more than 30,000 electronic voting machines, built by various companies, are being used in 38 states, a fact that has critics concerned about the security and accuracy of future election results. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Bev Harris, author of the book "Black Box Voting, Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century," who examines the serious flaws found in electronic voting systems and how this could profoundly affect the public's trust in the machinery of democracy.


*"Black Box Voting, Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century" is published by Plan Nine. Visit the publisher's website for a free download of excerpts of the book at www.blackboxvoting.com

Related links


*"New Voting Technology Questioned," Kansas City Star, Sept. 22, 2003

*"Visualize a Fair Vote in 2004," by Greg Palast and Ina Howard, YES! Magazine, Aug. 22, 2003

*" Winning the Election - The Republican Way: Racism, Theft and Fraud in Florida," by Liam Scheff, The Weekly Dig, April 22, 2003
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All the complaining we have done, we now have touch screen, and eyescan voting. Whatever agenda we bring up, the illuminati uses to their own purposes. Who knows maybe by complaining we were just falling in their hands so they could spring the computer voting on us? This reminds me of third war countries. I use to watch Mission Impossible reruns when I was a child, and now the stuff we saw that South American had to put up with is coming here. The New World Order plan appears to be planning to take advantage of the masses. Some type of fascist socialism will probably come out of it.