Note: A post by Jon Kantrowitz on MLM prompted this response.
There is no reason to be comfortable. The “Ten Myths In The Nutmeg State” have not been repealed.
I have the greatest respect for the computer scientists mentioned in the article, their research, and their contributions. We also need many more election officials as conscientious Ion Sancho. He is one of the stars of “Hacking Democracy” and a tireless advocate <video>
To their ranks I would add Dr. Alexander Shvartsman of the UConn VoTeR Center. He and his team have had papers selected for the ACCURATE conference this year and last <read> <read>.
Where I diverge from the article is in its conclusion:
thanks to this team of computer scientists and their partners in the public sector, communities across the country will be better prepared to prevent malicious attacks and mishaps at the ballot box.
This is true but to a very limited extent because so few states have used the well known and not so well known available information about voting risks to take action to protect our votes.
In Connecticut:
- The Connecticut Citizen Election Audit Coalition produced two reports showing the inadequacy and unreliability of our post-election audits as well as frequent failures of election officials to follow laws, regulations, and procedures. <read>
- The UConn VoTeR Center documented quality control problems with memory cards by LHS Associates and that more than half followed pre-election testing procedures <read>
- The Government Administration and Elections Committee held five public hearings across the state <read> <read> <read> <read> <read> . Documenting problems along with the lack of concern by voting officials, prompting one legislator to characterize the voting system as “the Wild West”.
However, the legislature did not act <read>. Federal legislation failed once again in the House <read>. And in the Senate still worse laws are proposed <read>. While the Nation’s oldest continuously downsizing “news”paper continues in denial <read>.
But the problems and risks persist:
Election officials fail to take precautions and follow procedures. LHS quality control has not changed <read> <read>
