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Democracy By Obscurity
from the for-your-own-protection dept
It turns out that, not only are the makers of electronic voting machines practicing security by obscurity, those who certify the machines are just as secretive. Call it democracy by obscurity. The certification companies, who are hired by the e-voting machine companies (conflict of interest?) won't reveal what they do to test the machines or the results of any such tests. So, while the e-voting machine companies continue to insist that they're secure, they won't show us how the systems work for others to prove that its secure, and the only people who are certifying the machines are secure are being paid by the vendors themselves and won't reveal their testing methods or results. It's the "just trust us" form of counting votes.
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While there's plenty to critize about voting machines and their certificiation, the set up where the manufacturer pays for certification is not one of them. That's pretty common. Underwriters Labs works the same way, and no one thinks that's a conflict of interest.
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we must have standards
When you submit a product to UL, the first thing that has to be determined is under what standard will the product be recognized or listed. The standards are available to the public for a fee.
What standard is used to certify the integrity of electronic voting machines and where can I purchase it for review?
I believe it is a valid criticism.
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