Comments on: Bruce Almighty http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/28/bruce-almighty/ crypto applied to public policy Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:51:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Ravi http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/28/bruce-almighty/#comment-7035 Ravi Wed, 29 Nov 2006 06:28:10 +0000 http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/28/bruce-almighty/#comment-7035 Here's the thing I see... open-audit election protocols might be a better solution, but I think the big hurdle is that ordinary people (who need more faith that their vote will be counted) don't <i>understand</i> them in their gut. Mail-in voting, on the other hand, is dead-simple to explain. Coercion (and losing the secret ballot) is a big deal, but dealing with it might just be a necessary step in our evolving election infrastructure. I'll also wonder if there aren't ways to preserve the secret ballot with mail-in voting. Maybe you can mail in multiple ballots and "last one wins" or only ballots with a certifying token get counted (so you can send in a ballot that <i>looks</i> real, but doesn't count). Or maybe I'm just making things too complicated - perhaps stiffer laws against vote coercion (coupled with aggressive enforcement) are good enough. I don't know. But my read is that perception is as important as reality here (since elections only work if people trust them). So a purely technical solution isn't good enough - it has to be a social one as well. And right now we have the worst of both worlds - infrastructure that (generally) isn't secure and isn't perceived that way either. Here’s the thing I see… open-audit election protocols might be a better solution, but I think the big hurdle is that ordinary people (who need more faith that their vote will be counted) don’t understand them in their gut. Mail-in voting, on the other hand, is dead-simple to explain. Coercion (and losing the secret ballot) is a big deal, but dealing with it might just be a necessary step in our evolving election infrastructure.

I’ll also wonder if there aren’t ways to preserve the secret ballot with mail-in voting. Maybe you can mail in multiple ballots and “last one wins” or only ballots with a certifying token get counted (so you can send in a ballot that looks real, but doesn’t count). Or maybe I’m just making things too complicated - perhaps stiffer laws against vote coercion (coupled with aggressive enforcement) are good enough. I don’t know.

But my read is that perception is as important as reality here (since elections only work if people trust them). So a purely technical solution isn’t good enough - it has to be a social one as well. And right now we have the worst of both worlds - infrastructure that (generally) isn’t secure and isn’t perceived that way either.

]]> By: Eric Hanchrow http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/28/bruce-almighty/#comment-7012 Eric Hanchrow Tue, 28 Nov 2006 23:34:36 +0000 http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/28/bruce-almighty/#comment-7012 Glad you wrote that. When <em>I</em> read Schneier's piece, my blood pressure went up, but I was too lazy and inarticulate to respond. Thanks. Glad you wrote that. When I read Schneier’s piece, my blood pressure went up, but I was too lazy and inarticulate to respond. Thanks.

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