"Expert Issues E-Voting System Challenge"

[GreenPartyVoter]

LAS VEGAS (AP) - One of the nation's leading critics of paperless electronic voting machines issued a challenge Thursday to computer hackers attending their annual Black Hat conference, encouraging them to test whether it's possible to rig an election.

Rebecca Mercuri, a Harvard University-affiliated research fellow, encouraged hackers to inspect software code made available on the Internet by VoteHere, an electronic voting software company based in Bellevue, Wash., and called upon other voting machine vendors to make their codes and products available.

"I'm tired of hearing members of the election community say that no problems have occurred with electronic voting systems when every election there's plenty of newspaper reports of 'glitches,'" Mercuri said.

Mercuri said her challenge was in response to a similar bet issued by Michael Shamos, a Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist and voting technology consultant. Shamos has promised $10,000 to anyone who can hack into a voting machine undetected.

http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20040730/D8458NOG0.html

[stellanoir]

1. god bless Rebecca Mercuri

This issue is the singular issue upon which our democracy rests. If our votes are not counted then what's the bloody point?

Most nobel efforts by Congressmen Holt, Kucinich, and Senators Clinton & Graham have been blocked. Only through grassroots efforts, relentlessly confronting each and every one of our Secretaries of State, will we ameliorate this divisive issue.

Hate to sound like a drama queen. I'm just completely exasperated.

Please consider checking out what voting systems are in place in your state and what is at stake.

Even the Repukes in Florida are recommending absentee ballots.

That should tell you something!

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. We've mainly got paper ballots and pencils, though the bigger

towns might have some sort of older punch machine. I'll check into it just in case, but it seems to me I think Maine is pretty safe from black box voting at the moment.