Reports backs use of e-voting machines

Ruu_Old

A little piece from this story here, please move mods if not suitable for here.

An independent commission has told the Dáil that electronic voting machines which cost €52 million can be used again, but only if millions of euros are spent on modifications and new software.

The Commission on Electronic Voting said it is satisfied with the security and accuracy of the machines, but that the separate software to count the votes is not suitable and should be replaced.

Its report, which was laid before the Dáil this afternoon, also calls for further testing and improved security measures.

More millions wasted or will it work this time?:rolleyes:

flogen

I do wonder if the public will trust the machines anyway, even if enough money was put into making the machines tracable again.... I think they're lost in the public arena at this point.

A victory for the opposition I guess, had the commission said scrap the machines it would have been too though

flogen

This is from Ireland.com; I'll copy the whole thing because its subs only:

E-voting software not safe for use, commission finds
The software used in the State's electronic voting machines is not secure enough for use, the Commission on Electronic Voting (CEV) has found.

It said that while the machines were reliable and, subject to minor modification, could be used, the software for collating the votes is "inadequate".

It also said security protocols for the transportation and storage of sensitive election information was insufficient.

The long-awaited findings by the independent commission will spark intense political scrutiny, re-igniting the controversy over the €52 million cost of a project.

The Government ruled out using the machines two years ago after a report by the CEV found insufficient testing had been done. They will not be used in the upcoming general election - expected next year - and are costing €700,000 a year to store.

The Government and then minister for the environment and local government Martin Cullen came in for stinging criticism over what was regarded as an ill conceived project that wasted taxpayers' money.

The voting machines and related hardware were of "good quality", the CEV said. "Their design, which is based on voting systems that have been reliable in use elsewhere for some years, has also remained stable since their adaptation for use in Ireland."

It said there should be minor modifications and further testing to the machines but concluded they could be "confidently recommended for use".

The "embedded" software, which controls basic functions such as registering a vote and screen display, was also regarded as sound, but the more complex vote counting software was found to be inadequate.

The report said the security of the computer used for configuring the poll and later counting the votes "is inadequate and needs to be improved".

"Improvements are also required to the security of the methods by which sensitive election data, including votes, are stored, transported and accessed on ballot modules and CDs."

The commission said that many of the improvements would involve "only relatively minor modifications or additions".

The commission, chaired by retired judge Matthew P. Smyth, has concluded its work and is not due to carry out any further examination of the issue. The report was sent to the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil today.

So it seems that the software is to blame and is inadequate... interesting

chekov

flogen wrote:

So it seems that the software is to blame and is inadequate... interesting

The hardware is just a normal PC architecture connected to a touch screen. It's pretty trivial to construct a PC, so the identification of the software as the problematic aspect is not exactly a surprise. It's like a book reviewer commenting that the paper and binding of the book is fine, it's just the content that's the problem.

If they really did pay consultants to come up with this result, they are taking the pish.

The software that the machines use is a total joke. No audit trail. Results stored in an access database :eek: . From the sounds of it, they're basically saying that they would need to rewrite the entire application which basically means starting from scratch. The hardware is trivial and can be bought off the shelf.