Tag Archives: voting machines

Now are you worried? On Saturday, San Francisco Chronicle staff writer John Wildermuth, in an article entitled, “Most Vote Machines lost test to hackers”, described how teams of computer security experts (aka “hackers”) hired by the state were able to crack every model of voting machine that they tested — including Sequoia, Hart InterCivic and Diebold. The UC’s report/document dump is now on the CA Secretary of State’s site.

This obviously has national implications. Last week, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey advanced H.R. 811, the “Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007,” which amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require a voter-verified permanent paper ballot.

State-sanctioned teams of computer hackers were able to break through the security of virtually every model of California’s voting machines and change results or take control of some of the systems’ electronic functions, according to a University of California study released Friday. The researchers “were able to bypass physical and software security in every machine they tested,” said Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who authorized the “top to bottom review” of every voting system certified by the state.

BlackBoxVoting.org posted an open letter to CA Secretary of State Debra Bowen in which BBV board member Jim March said, “Please consider taking more aggressive action. Decertify everything, citing the obvious failure of Federal oversight as the primary cause.” Feel free to contact California Secretary of State, Debra Bowen and let her know what you think of electronic voting machines.