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« New Examiner Instructions From The OTS For Red Flags Rule Enforcement | Main | Email "Hack" Tells University Students & Staff That U.S. President Vote Is "Tomorrow" »

Vote! Vote! Vote!

Today, at long last, the marathon of a presidential election race is finally almost over. Today...finally...the finally final votes are made for U.S. president. Did I mention finally? The race has been going on for two years here in Iowa.

I voted absentee ballot around 3 - 4 weeks ago; I'm so glad I don't need to deal with the long lines. But it is *GOOD* for once to see those long lines! More people need to get involved with voting.

Here are a few interesting headlines about voting related (directly or indirectly) with security and/or privacy...

Vote security nightmare as Hillsborough voter records found along I-4

"Thousands of pages that contain information about Hillsborough County voters were found along a stretch of I-4 early this morning."


Election 2008: E-voting concerns persist

"Is electronic voting on its way out? For the first time in nearly three decades, there will be a decline in the number of people casting their ballots electronically, reports Election Data Services, Inc. (EDS). The Manassas, Va.-based political consulting firm reports that, compared with the 2006 election, nearly 10 million fewer voters will use e-voting machines Tuesday."

So Little Time, So Much Damage

"President Bush's aides have been scrambling to change rules and regulations on the environment, civil liberties and abortion rights, among others -- few for the good. Most presidents put on a last-minute policy stamp, but in Mr. Bush's case it is more like a wrecking ball. We fear it could take months, or years, for the next president to identify and then undo all of the damage."

Could Mobile Voting Happen in 2012? or 2016?

"With long lines expected at polling places for today's U.S. election, many young American voters may be wondering today "Couldn't I have voted via my iPhone, Blackberry or other smartphone?" Wouldn't that have been easier than taking time-off from work and fighting the crowds? After all, the younger generation is already used to shopping online, paying their bills and banking electronically, and even voting via SMS for "American Idol". So why not mobile voting? Could a mobile voting system be developed by 2012 or 2016 that truly ensures a fair election?"

Universal Voter Registration

"Every election cycle, our nation argues about voter fraud and purging voters. Universal voter registration is the solution to both of these problems. It eliminates voter fraud. It makes unlawful purging of voters impossible. It's also more simple to administrate than our current system, therefore costing less and easier to validate."

E-Voting's Biggest Test: In Several Key States, Electronic Voting Machines Have Already Flipped Votes From One Candidate to Another

"As the US heads into a historic and contentious presidential election, concerns over electronic voting technology could be about to stir up controversy over the legitimacy of some results."


How to hack an election in seven minutes

"Numerous problems beset e-voting machines being used to count ballots in today's U.S. elections. Experts say some can be hacked in a matter of minutes. Many are left unguarded. In certain cases, touching the screen to cast a vote for one candidate has displayed a result favouring the other candidate."

Voting errors in US presidential election

"Doubts over the security and accuracy of electronic voting machines have surfaced once again, as several US states report ballot mistakes in the final and most crucial leg of the presidential election."


US elections may face voting problems

"Lawsuits alleging voter suppression surfaced in the hotly contested state of Virginia. A judge refused late Monday to extend poll hours and to add voting machines to black precincts in some areas. Civil rights group the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, in a federal lawsuit, demanded those changes, saying minority neighbourhoods would experience overwhelming turnout and there weren't enough electronic machines."

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Comments

Great Post! The first news I heard this morning was about the ballots in Shaker Heights not having the page with the presidential race and ballots in Virginia being wet.

Amazing how user focused testing and real world scenarios can make such a difference :-)

Happy Renewal Day!
Nancy

Nancy, thank you for your comment!

Very interesting about the Shaker Heights ordeal! Isn't is amazing how, with so much preparation time, so many areas seemed to be ill-prepared? I agree; incidents in real-time often are those people never expected. However, you would think they would have noticed through a simple QA review that the presidential page was missing!

Rebecca

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Rebecca Herold's Bio:

Rebecca Herold,CISSP, CIPP, CISM, CISA, FLMI, has been providing information security, privacy and regulatory assistance and services to organizations from a wide range of industries for over 18 years. Rebecca was instrumental in building the information security and privacy program while at Principal Financial Group, which was awarded the CSI Information Security Program of the Year Award in 1998. IT Security ranked Rebecca as one of the top 59 IT security influencers, and Computerworld put Rebecca their list of the 25 top privacy experts and on their list of the 9 best privacy consulting firms. Rebecca has been CPO for two consulting organizations, and has had her own information privacy, security and compliance business since 2004. Rebecca has written chapters for several books, dozens of articles, and has been writing a monthly privacy column for the CSI Alert newsletter since the beginning of 2001, and is working on her 11th book. Some of her other books include The Privacy Papers, Managing an Information Security and Privacy Awareness and Training Program, The Definitive Guide to Security Inside the Perimeter (Realtime Publishers), The Shortcut Guide to Improving IT Service Support through ITIL (Realtime Publishers), and The Practical Guide to HIPAA Privacy and Security Compliance. In addition, Rebecca is the leader of The Realtime IT Compliance Community where she posts to her IT Compliance weblog. You can contact Rebecca at: rebecca_herold@realtimepublishers.net.