Comments on: Of Park Benches, Cardboard Boxes, Armored Cars and Voting http://benlog.com/articles/2007/10/16/of-park-benches-cardboard-boxes-armored-cars-and-voting/ crypto applied to public policy Sun, 12 Oct 2008 05:58:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Quantum crypto in elections? To what end? « All About Voting http://benlog.com/articles/2007/10/16/of-park-benches-cardboard-boxes-armored-cars-and-voting/#comment-151275 Quantum crypto in elections? To what end? « All About Voting Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:52:23 +0000 http://benlog.com/articles/2007/10/16/of-park-benches-cardboard-boxes-armored-cars-and-voting/#comment-151275 [...] from Ben Adidas’s post Of Park Benches, Cardboard Boxes, Armored Cars and Voting: However, marketing this as “unbreakable encryption” is troubling. I can’t help but see this [...] [...] from Ben Adidas’s post Of Park Benches, Cardboard Boxes, Armored Cars and Voting: However, marketing this as “unbreakable encryption” is troubling. I can’t help but see this [...]

]]> By: joe http://benlog.com/articles/2007/10/16/of-park-benches-cardboard-boxes-armored-cars-and-voting/#comment-139406 joe Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:39:27 +0000 http://benlog.com/articles/2007/10/16/of-park-benches-cardboard-boxes-armored-cars-and-voting/#comment-139406 If only we could replicate the election environment easily... it must be one of the hardest experimental environments to replicate... I'd wager it's impossible. Other types of elections (union, etc.) just aren't the same. Sigh. Thanks for the interaction that your blog provides... btw, I'm looking for postdocs, etc. starting fall/summer 2008; if you know of any that might want lawyer/science hybrids, let me know! (send me email rather than a public reply here). best, Joe If only we could replicate the election environment easily… it must be one of the hardest experimental environments to replicate… I’d wager it’s impossible. Other types of elections (union, etc.) just aren’t the same. Sigh. Thanks for the interaction that your blog provides… btw, I’m looking for postdocs, etc. starting fall/summer 2008; if you know of any that might want lawyer/science hybrids, let me know! (send me email rather than a public reply here). best, Joe

]]> By: ben http://benlog.com/articles/2007/10/16/of-park-benches-cardboard-boxes-armored-cars-and-voting/#comment-139043 ben Thu, 18 Oct 2007 04:43:09 +0000 http://benlog.com/articles/2007/10/16/of-park-benches-cardboard-boxes-armored-cars-and-voting/#comment-139043 Joe: the difficult issue lies in the definition of "sufficient." Is RSA sufficient for this particular application? Yes, I think so, and thus yes, I think the argument you mention applies. But it's still worth <i>experimenting</i> with new technologies. This is an argument that Andy Neff was the first to make, as far as I know, in the context of voting: if we're going to improve the state of voting, we'll need to do test runs of new technology, and it has to be in real elections. Maybe pick a few precincts where the technology is tested, accepting that you may well have to rerun the election for those precincts. Sounds difficult, but how else can we make progress? Back to the issue of "sufficient." Some folks think that not having true voter receipts is sufficient. I disagree :) So if everyone agrees on what is sufficient, I think your argument applies. Where it gets tough is when folks disagree on what's truly necessary, and I suspect that happens often. Joe: the difficult issue lies in the definition of “sufficient.” Is RSA sufficient for this particular application? Yes, I think so, and thus yes, I think the argument you mention applies.

But it’s still worth experimenting with new technologies. This is an argument that Andy Neff was the first to make, as far as I know, in the context of voting: if we’re going to improve the state of voting, we’ll need to do test runs of new technology, and it has to be in real elections. Maybe pick a few precincts where the technology is tested, accepting that you may well have to rerun the election for those precincts. Sounds difficult, but how else can we make progress?

Back to the issue of “sufficient.” Some folks think that not having true voter receipts is sufficient. I disagree :) So if everyone agrees on what is sufficient, I think your argument applies. Where it gets tough is when folks disagree on what’s truly necessary, and I suspect that happens often.

]]> By: joe http://benlog.com/articles/2007/10/16/of-park-benches-cardboard-boxes-armored-cars-and-voting/#comment-138719 joe Wed, 17 Oct 2007 20:56:38 +0000 http://benlog.com/articles/2007/10/16/of-park-benches-cardboard-boxes-armored-cars-and-voting/#comment-138719 What do you think about the argument that if a known technology is sufficient that should be used for critical applications like voting rather than something that is relatively immature? (this is similar to why space devices use hardened processors from years and years ago) I've seen this debate batted back and forth... and I can see the merits for each side. What do you think about the argument that if a known technology is sufficient that should be used for critical applications like voting rather than something that is relatively immature? (this is similar to why space devices use hardened processors from years and years ago)

I’ve seen this debate batted back and forth… and I can see the merits for each side.

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