Voting system raises security questions
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 11/03/2006
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An expert on voting security said the new electronic voting systems implemented for the Nov. 7 elections may present security concerns.
Barbara Simons, an electronic voting expert, said Diebold voting systems, which will be used in the Tippecanoe County elections, have the possibility of being tampered with. She spoke about the risks in a Thursday lecture before about 30 professors.
She said although independent testing agencies use a checklist to check for bugs in the system, that doesn't mean the machine is safe for voting.
"You can't do security by checklist," said Simons. "Bugs are not always found."
She said it's believed an attacker who has physical access to a machine could install a malicious virus in as little as one minute.
In an effort to reduce security concerns, Tippecanoe County uses printed reports of vote tallies, said Laurie Wilson, co-director of the Tippecanoe County Board of Elections and Voter Registration.
Wilson said after the polls close, the machines print off a report archive. The paper archive, along with a memory card, are then sealed and delivered to county headquarters.
In a recent Diebold voting test, the printed archive of the ballots were tallied by hand. It resulted with a correct counting of the pre-selected votes.
But Eugene Spafford, professor and executive director of the Center for Education and Research in Information, Assurance and Security, said this may not reduce the risk of failure.
"As has been demonstrated many times around the country, in both elections and trials, (some) voting machines that register a few votes correctly in a test does not mean that they will operate correctly during the election," said Spafford.
He said although measures are being taken to ensure security, no electronic system is foolproof.
"Diebold may have bad security, but it is no worse than any other vendor," said Simons.