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So this week I was going to do more medical technology, because I really enjoyed learning about that stuff last week and reading yall's comments. You do know, don't you, that I read every comment and sometimes even respond to them? Yeah . . . you might want to go back sometimes and read the comments AFTER you've published. Just a thought.
Anywho . . . I ran across this article in Computerworld on electronic voting and this thing that's been happening called "vote-flipping." It's where you go to vote electronically and the vote that gets put in to be counted is a vote for the OTHER guy.
The software manufacturers like to blame the consumers (that's US) for accidentally hitting the wrong area, perhaps with long fingernails or dangley jewelry. The states like to blame the software manufacturers for not doing thorough testing. In fact, one person said "Elections officials didn't seek such testing because they had limited budgets, wanted equipment that they could afford and had little time to dig into issues like usability, Coney said. "The issue for them was what fits the budget," she said. "A lot of the usability issues were just 'throw the voters in there and let them be the beta testers."
Which prompts me to say . . . Huh? We're talking about the future of our country and you guys want to talk about budgets and making the consumer be the beta testers? Oh my.
So anyway, go read this article. I think you'll find it as interesting (in a sick, stomach-twisting way) as I did:
http://tinyurl.com/6yzarv
And while you're at it, this is a link to other information in Computerworld about other electronic voting woes, including a story about the ability of hackers to affect the e-votes:
http://tinyurl.com/5chj44
Tell me what you think about the electronic voting process and it's associated problems. Tell me what you think about the ability of hackers to upset our democracy. DO NOT tell me about your political affiliations or who you think should've won. THAT IS NOT WHAT WE ARE DISCUSSING HERE!
Talk to me . . .
73 comments:
Mr. Maness! Seriously?!? I don't think your choice of language is appropriate for a school atmosphere. Perhaps you need to go back and read my first blog again.
It is a scholarly blog, thus the use of language that promotes scholarly thought.
PLUS, I really appreciate your use of that language when EVERYBODY in the district is looking at the blog because it's been blocked for some mysterious reason.
So . . . if you'd like your blog participation grade for the week I would suggest you edit your post.
this isn't my offical comment - i'll edit it later - however GOOD JOB MR. MANESS.
like seriously?
um i just want to go back to listening to music so like, they shouldent use tech. and comps. for voteing, people rigg thing so yeah. idk why they cant just play fair but leave it up to paper.
I agree with maness. We should go back to paper ballots so we can reduce errors in elections. A realy good hacker could easily hack the machines and change the votes to the dems or the repubicans.
I think that the touch screen ballot machine is a great I idea. It will help the US get votes fast.
We are in a age of dependes on technology. We can only blame technical issues on human error. And fast is better. High maintance world people is what this world has come to.
electronic voting will happen, it's just a matter of when the companies that are preparing the hardware and software that will used actually get it working efficently.
This current is example is just a bug along the road. It's things like this that make software better, and it's a well needed stage.
So, just give it a few years, I can't say how many. Maybe even by the next election
Onto the topic!
I think it's safe to say that this 'tech-voting' is a little, how do you say, blah? Anyone with basic to medium hacking skills *coughRyanVeaseycough* could easily change the votes of others.
I agree with most of the people that have commented so far. They should use paper ballots. They're more efficiant.
BUT! What does it matter on how efficiant or ballots are. If you really think about it we're not the ones really choosing the president, the electoral college does. So maybe we should work on THEIR VOTES!!!
@gilbreath lol I'm no hacker :P but u and I both know someone that is.
@manisa they vote on who we vote for. The electoral college votes based on who WE vote for. So if say Virginia's citizens voted for candidate A then the electoral college would vote for him. But if the citizens vote for candidate B then he would get the votes
(at least thats how I understand it to work)
Ashley . . . I agree with you about the electoral college.
One of the things that comes to mind after reading all this stuff about vote-flipping, etc. is that we COULD go back to paper votes, but we certainly wouldn't be getting results as fast as we are now. I mean, most of us knew who the president-elect was before we went to bed (not me of course, because I'm old and I can't stay up that late). In the OLD days before e-voting, back when we parked our dinosaurs in the lot out back, results didn't come in for days sometimes. There is something to be said for speed of election returns now.
they want to vote for who they want to vote for president and what kind of decisions is going make and what he wants to do and kind of president is he going to be.
I believe voting should be on paper ballots and that way no one can make mistakes with technical issues... Thats it and thats how i feel.. Holla at ya boy if you need anything else
Electronic voting is a great idea. In this age, we are heading into a technology based world. Paper ballots are annoying and a thing of the past. They can make its os that unless you try really hard, you can't mess with the system. Also, I think that if it is a problem with jewelry and stuff, they should either make it so that it isn't thats sensiive, or ,make a rule that no dangly jewelry can be used.
I hope people arent changing the peoples votes with the votes of the touch- screen matchine I think we should stick to the paper ballots to get more true results.
Whether you like it or not, Electronig Voting will happen eventually. It just depends on when the people decide to switch to it, some companies have tried it out, but there were a few bugs with the screen calibration but people complained about it switching their answers
I think that its kinda stupid they should just stick to the old fashion paper ballets or just make the touch screens really big so it wouldn't change you vote on accident.
I think that they should just stick to paper ballots that way nobody will complain on anything and i think that the screen voting is not a really good idea because some hackers can go change the votes and these days anything is possible.
i think that since it is hackable that there it might be possible in the future that some one will try to mess with it. i think that it is very efficient and will be around for a long time but it the problem becomes bigger then we should jus go back to old fashion paper ballots.
All I have to say is that we really should stick with paper and pencil because I mean seriously! What the heck! We are using optical scanners and touch screen monitors to vote! Really. How dumb can we be. We are seriously becoming to dependent on the technology we are using today. Its getting on my nerves. Those things are a disaster waiting to happen because someone can either hack or crack into those and flip all the ballots so it can either be one sided or somethin. Plus, I agree with the fact that technical issues can only be blamed on human error because for one, we designed it, so we need to improve on it.
I think the same way edlin thinks we should just stick to paper ballets, but the screen voting is not a bad idea either i think that they should make it more precisly so that no errors occur
i think its a good idea the only thing is the hacking.i would be afraid someone could hack into all the votes and erase them all.but other than its cool
i think the touch screen voting should be used for younger people because the reason people probably comlpained about there votes not being right is because they do not know how to use this technology,they should just stick with the pen and paper.i voted on the touch screen and i thought i was easy, ya you have to becarefull when using it so you wont touch the wrong thing but other than that, its easy to use.
Most of the mistakes with "vote flipping" could be solved if the sensitivity on the machines were not set so high. Voters can too easily select the wrong choice just by brushing the buttons. If someone happens to be handicapped, why not let an able bodied family member or assistant at the machine select the options for the person?
I like the idea of touch voting,and switching back to paper would greatly decrease efficiency. Simply put, people need to press the button for their candidate, confirm it on the machine, and have a coke and a smile while watching the results on tv.
No matter what - people are going to try and find something wrong and somebody to blame if they DONT get their way. We might as well vote electronically becuase we are moving into a time where everything will be electronic. We should focus on making it harder (or almost impossible) for people to hack into it. Thats what I think.
These designers have four years to come up with these machines inbetween elections...can they really not make it to where if you press one button another choice would have been made. Thats pretty pathetic.
for voteing I wouldn't rely so heavily on technology for something so importent. sure the votes get counted faster but a computer can break down or even lost a vote like an email might get lost. for some things we should just not use technology for and voteing is one of them to me.
but i'm skeptical about most things concerning technology for some reason. thats me.
THE E-VOTING THING IS A GOOD IDEA BEACUSE ITS A FASTER PROCESS BUT SOME THINGS ARE WORTH THE TIME IT TAKES AND THE ELECTION FOR WHO WILL BE RUNNING A COUNTRY IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS. SO USING PAPER TO VOTE WILL BE OKAY. ITS MORE ACCURATE THAT WAY.
..I think apple should make the voting machines, you can't hack those, it’s impossible; impossible I say! lol..
but for real, I don’t really think there is anyway for anyone to really know if the votes are getting flipped, personally I don’t really think they are because if hasn't been long since we've been using electronic voting and Texas has voted republican every year since 1976 and the republican candidate this year didn’t spend one cent on campaigning here. So that’s my only 'real' proof that I’ve kind of looked into to see if the votes were really getting flipped...
..and if people are saying "well look at the exit polls" or any kind of polls to compare to the actual votes; those polls aren't THAT accurate.. I mean "me" personally and probably a lot of other would tell the nice people asking me who I voted for that "it's none of your dang business. THANKS!"
This Tech is great but its very unproven and according to Princton..very hackable..I think we should hold off on this tech till its properly tested and hack proof..or at least make it hard to hack into
I don't think electronic voting is a good thing. Back to the "why does everything have to be electronic" comment I made a few blogs ago, what's wrong with the old fashioned way of doing things? It's scary that things like this are so easily hacked...like in the Princeton story. Voting is something to take seriously...very seriously...and I don't think that "a new way of voting" that could possible get messed up is a way to go. This election has already had me questioning voting in general...why make it more controversial than it already is by throwing in a method of voting that could possibly present a false win for either of the candidates?!
I like touch screens. :P Unfortunately, I really don't think it's a good idea to use touch screens for e-votes. It has various technical problems. One, it seemed to be sensitive to fingerprints (even sticky, wet ones) and if one gives it just one little touch, even an accidental one, it will act upon it and select what it sense. I would choose to vote on paper (which is the safest way and no one would blame anybody and no one would get get hurt) but if people wants to choose to vote on touchscreens, then I'm all for it.
voting should just stick to paper ballots, that way no one can blame errors on technical issues, plus the only way paper ballots can show error is if the person reading it makes a mistake, which is still possible, so really, either way, there are bound to be errors, the question is, which one will yield fewer errors?
i think its goona be pretty cool to vote electronically becuase u r not goin to have to stand in a lon gline but its also goona be not cool becuase u never know with the hackers they may attak your voting system when they feel like so i think its 50 50.
I think that e-voting has its ups and downs because yes its faster and you can have your results quicker but it also can have software mishaps causing the wrong thing to be selected and such and also as the acticle on the hacker person like people would be able to hack in and change stuff so its not all that great really
E voting was created and now used because supposedly make it easier and more efficient way to vote but i disagree with that. I believe paper ballots are more safe. People hacking into the e voting systems may do what ever they want with such an important information...suxs you cant vote when ur 17.....
Technology voting is a good thing butthings could also go wrong like someone can hake in the system, do something were that the vote goes to the presedent with the higher alphebet letter
well i believe that all of the votes going through computers is the fastest and most fair way to do it if nobody hacks into the system to get things their way, because they could mess it up just as easy by hand count, or whatever they would do.
i think that there are always goin to be people who complain...so they should just deal with it everything is technology anyway...but i do agree that they should make it very difficult or almost impossible for someone to hack into da computer and change the votes...i personally like the fact that they get the results quicker
Eh, this doesn't concern me very much. As long as we know who the president is, I'm fine. But on the other hand, e-voting or whatever seems not all that bad. It's certainly faster in a way to get information faster. Plus, paper voting looks like too much work. Seriously, touch screens are more advanced than paper...
Brice . . . I agree. You would think in the intervening 4 years SOMEBODY would have all this stuff worked out.
Ummm Angela . . . why would somebody be touching the touch screen with wet sticky fingers? LOL. I would hope that at the very least they could put down their lollipops and syrup long enough to go vote.
i think that hackers can but it is all just to hard because they have to find alot of information and need a lot of time to change the votes but all the e voting is making it hard if you can only touch one part of the machine at a time
Can vote be hack i think it can be ,but did it happen this time. No i dont think it did. But the true question is when and how bad would it be when it do happen and when it do happen what cant be hack after that. If you can hack the voting mechiane what would you do with your life after that......
i agree with VEASEY about the paper ballots because they will not do a fraud while counting the votes is more secure about the voting because on the computer you will get afraid about if the computer crashes or did i do this rignt? or i hope that something will not happen to the computer. i agree that on the computer might be faster but i disagree that it might be secure.
Voting with machines have alot of problems with them like ryan said someone could hack them. they should just stick to paper that way everyoen knows who they actually voted for.
Well,I think that voting should be like it already is,but if you take time to learn different techniques like e-voting,or other voting skills you can acomplish it.
Yeah paper is way better than technology in this case. There just isnt any room for error when counting something as important as votes.
Honestly I dont the electronic will make so many mistakes that the vote for a candidate will be that warped. (If its that much of a problem then personally I think that they should do away with electronic voting and go back to the old fashion way.)If they do away with the electronic system then they will then have to find people to count all the votes manually.(BIG MISTAKE!) I think they should just keep trying work out the technical errors and continue to use the electronic voting system.
i think that if the voting machine was not working properly, then it is up to the machine vendors to test the machine before its sold and after its reported to be "fliping votes"
Anything that is new or different is going to be poked at and proded. I think that the creators new what they where makeing. They didn't just say "hey lets make this" they had to have done some research and new what to program into the device. Maybe there needed to be a few more elections so the transition would have been easier but people should suck it up its the digital age.
Vote "flipping"...I think it is all has to do with dirty dishonest politics paying off the manufacturers of the voting machices to flip like one in every 100 votes. Dont for a second believe that it would be below McCain or Obama to stoop that low for the extra few votes. I guess thats just what i believe, and as far as im concerned with hackers getting into voting machines as long as its connected to the internet or anything computerized for that matter, someone will be able to (and most likely will) hack it.
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And Mr. Cruz . . . thank you for joining us this week in the CORRECT comments section. LOL
The way things are going its awsome the way they have things going to event. the tuotch screen is very cool, and I would like to see something like that happen. It would be pretty cool just to see how pwople would try to use it, even though it does sound complicated to use.
just helping, but you will not be able to trust any one but me its okay but they should stay...., with the same stuff. but its sounds realy cool to see how it would be. but you have to look at how people will react to the fact of the voting of the computer.
"We haven't had an election yet where the machines haven't failed somewhere."
I'm in decisive about how voting should be handled, because no matter how we vote, someone is always going to be able to mess it up, or someone is going to see or a computer is going to fail, or someone could hack/miscount the votes.
Paper or electronically, is crazy to me.
But out of no where - it would be fun to vote like.. using a remote. Something like the Wii Gaming Consule, when you could just scan your registration, and point to which canidate you would like.
But then, like Mrs. L said, we'd scare the older people.
Im not being negative in my comment. Im just trying to stress the fact that people and computers alike cannot be trusted. The most practical thing for them to do will be to keep working on the system to improve the errors and secure it better.
i agree with brice's statement the electronic voteing the makes it alot eaiser for people and i'm sure that every now and then a vote will get fliped but that would just be because machines will always screw up no because of some hackar but i personally think we should just forget voting period and just give it to Nader he's earned it!!
I think we should stick to voting on paper, because people can do stuff to the computer, to where it will do anything.
I dont like the electronic voting, because I'v heard theres so many errors with it. And I dont like the fact that its easy to hack into.
i think that this voting style will help with long counting hours but i do think that something could happen and every vote is lost and everyone would have to re vote all over agian and this time stand in line for hours on end this could end up like the movie man of the year where the comeidian ends up winning the election only because the computer voting was all riged and the other guy never had a chance! so, comp. voting convenient or accident waiting to happen? i say accident waiting to happen!!!!
On the Vote Flipping in Electronic Voting Machines-
I'm not sure why someone would want to sabotage an election that could change the world, I guess it's the same morons that decided to make viruses and worms. They did it just out of hate or just to cause a stir for fun.
Why would a fingernail, jewelery, or clothing cause a machine to choose a different candidate?
AN IPHONE DOES NOT REACT TO ANYTHING BUT THE TOUCH OF A FINGER. Trust me, I've tried. I mean, maybe a toe or something similar, but why can an electronic voting device not use the same technology?
I doubt those machines cost under 500$. The technology in an iphone is less than that. Why would they not add the extra 100$ or so to add this useful technology to prevent problems?
I kinda think that its a good idea that can and will go wrong. SO TERRIBLY TERRIBLY WRONG *rips out hair.Because one thing for certain,that nothing on the computer is sacred. I mean, look how easy it is to steal peoples identity and thats not even on the internet. If you have seenthe lengths the government goes through to ensure that no one knows who's going to win, then you'll know that this is a bad idea just waiting to happen. If that makes any sense.
Even though voting will soon be fully electronic, i think we should stick with the paper ballots. They are harder to make mistakes with. With the errors that happen with any electronic, its not worth the well being of our country if the wrong person gets elected. I say stick with paper until we perfect electronics.
i dont know if most people can trusted on voting with technology. i would say to go back and vote on paper. to be sure that there is no fraud or mistakes. in a few years there will probably be electronic voting with even morte security.
yea sure the electronic voting might have its plus side like for example we wouldn't be killing as many trees... but that's about it so many things could go wrong like freaky people hack it and change info. or our information might not even go through and just be lost... let's stick to tradition
That is werid. so if you do office comment that is about language for school. But Everybody did diffrent laguage in school.
I've heard of wories about the electronic voting machines not working properly, but it has seem that the election went off without a hitch. It's good for the companies to compete with another, it creates better products, I don't see a problem with that.
I think that this technology is not such a good idea if we were to vote on a touch screen and every thing went well exept the last 1000 pople did something wrong or didnt know how to use it...that would crash the system and it would become chaos!!!And also hackers might get their hands on it and we dont want to deal with that,Why dont we stick with the pen and paper??
the touch-screen voting is not the good one cause i dont think that the world need to be change i dont like that touch-screen voting.
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And LOL @ April about the trees.
I think touch screen voting should not be used in the future. they are easy to hack and they are easy for people to get hands on.
the first thing i'd buy off the thinkgeek website would be the green lazer!With a Range of approximately 9,000 ft (2600 m) in darkness and the fact its green(one of my top five colors). And you know how they say you'll blind someone if you shine it in their eye? Well this one can quicker MAHHAHAHAH! and just for 70 bucks too!! awesome!
On the kleargear website I'll get the plasma mug for my dad...I need t get something anyway.
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