Monthly Archives: November 2006

Bruce Almighty

Posted on November 28, 2006 by ben

Bruce Schneier is generally right on when it comes to security, and his explanations are usually extremely crisp and to the point. Plus, it’s hard to argue with a man whose online reputation precedes him. That said, when it comes … Continue reading →

Posted in policy, voting | 4 Comments

Again, the Secret Ballot

Posted on November 22, 2006 by ben

Salon talks about the undervote situation in Sarasota. In their “featured letters,” one reader, self-nicknamed “the voice of reason,” says: If we need to use computers to vote, why can’t there be a double receipt system? One receipt goes into … Continue reading →

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My Day as an Election Warden in Boston

Posted on November 8, 2006 by ben

This past Tuesday, I was the election warden, aka the Chief, for a Boston precinct. I didn’t announce it ahead of time, because I wanted the realistic experience of an average warden, in an average precinct. I put my knowledge of computer science and crypto aside, went to the mandated 2 hours of new-warden training, read the manual over and over and over again over the weekend, and managed the precinct as best and as cleanly as I could. It was, in a word, a fantastic experience. Continue reading →

Posted in policy, voting | 18 Comments

Scratch & Vote in the Press again!

Posted on November 6, 2006 by ben

Scratch & Vote is in the press thanks to Peter Weiss of Science News, who gives a very good overview of election technology issues. I’ve also posted the slides and latest paper for this work, which is joint with Ronald … Continue reading →

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The Punchscan FAQ Revisited

Posted on November 6, 2006 by ben

David Chaum and his team have just released Punchscan v1, the first open-source implementation of a truly verifiable voting system. Like other voting systems in its class (there aren’t that many), it allows for truly open auditing and voter verification. … Continue reading →

Posted in crypto, voting | 2 Comments

Go Vote

Posted on November 1, 2006 by ben

Election season is in full force. The TV programs, the newspapers, and a whole bunch of smart folks are telling you that voting machines are broken, that they won’t count your vote, that democracy can be hacked (thanks, HBO.) No … Continue reading →

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