[IP] [BVGAO (Government Accountability Office) Issues Electronic Voting Report
Begin forwarded message:
From: Dennis Paull <dpaull@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: October 21, 2005 3:45:17 PM EDT
To: Dave Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [BVGAO (Government Accountability Office) Issues Electronic
Voting Report
Hi Dave,
For IP as you see fit.
Dennis Paull
Half Moon Bay, CA
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Today the GAO released a report on the security problems with
electronic voting systems. Also a bi-partisan congressional group
issued a news release. It is critical that local jurisdictions adopt a
policy of restraint prior to committing millions of dollars of
taxpayer's money to purchase voting systems with known reliability,
accuracy, and security problems. This latest report by the non-partisan
GAO gives additional credibility to the many warnings and findings by
the voting activists throughout the country. Too many local election
officials have been willing to repeat the vendor-inspired cry that our
calls for voting reform, especially in regards to electronic voting,
were merely the cries of Ludites and conspiracy theorists. Please pass
these reports on to your local Board of Supervisors and election
officials.
This breaking story is also being addressed at BradBlog
(http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001940.htm)
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N E W S R E L E A S E
For Immediate Release: October 21, 2005
Davis, Waxman, Sensenbrenner, Conyers, Boehlert, and Gordon React
To GAO Report on Security Problems With Electronic Voting Systems
Washington, D.C. - Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-
VA) and Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), Judiciary Committee
Chair F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Ranking Member John Conyers
(D-MI), and Science Committee Chair Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and
Ranking Member Bart Gordon (D-TN), issued the following statements
upon today's release of the Government Accountability Office's
report, "Federal Efforts to Improve Security and Reliability of
Electronic Voting Systems Are Under Way, but Key Activities Need to
Be Completed" (GAO-05-956):
"It is certainly disappointing that, despite the recommendations from
federal organizations and non-governmental groups, many states still
have not made progress to make sure their electronic voting systems
are safe from fraud and can be relied on to accurately count votes,"
Chairman Davis said. "However, I am pleased that the EAC is
continuing to push states to improve their voting systems and comply
with the requirements of the Help Americans Vote Act (HAVA).
American's voting system must be made to be world class, everywhere
in the country, as soon as possible."
"The GAO report indicates that we need to get serious and act quickly
to improve the security of electronic voting machines," said Rep.
Waxman. "The report makes clear that there is a lack of transparency
and accountability in electronic voting systems - from the day that
contracts are signed with manufacturers to the counting of electronic
votes on Election Day. State and local officials are spending a great
deal of money on machines without concrete proof that they are secure
and reliable. American voters deserve better."
Chairman Sensenbrenner said, "The Founders established the states as
the entity primarily responsible for the administration of both
federal and state elections. While Congress has provided direction
through HAVA and federal grants to modernize state election systems,
some states continue to drag their feet in preventing voting
compilation errors and eliminating questionable voter registration
and poll day procedures. In my home state of Wisconsin, the current
Governor has done his best to block the legislature's efforts to
implement voting reforms conforming with HAVA guidelines, despite
evidence of widespread voter fraud in Milwaukee in recent elections.
The EAC will have to push hard to overcome the resistance of those
who rely on outmoded and unreliable voting practices to keep
themselves in power."
"I am shocked at the extent and nature of problems GAO has identified
in our electronic voting systems, and I fear that this may just be
the tip of the iceberg," said Rep. Conyers. "It is totally
unacceptable that in 21st century American we would allow faulty
machines and systems to rob citizens of their voting rights. While
GAO offers some modest recommendations for improvement, it is
incumbent upon Congress to respond to this problem and to enact much-
needed reforms such as a voter verified paper audit trail that
protects all Americans' right to vote."
Chairman Boehlert said, "I wholeheartedly endorse the GAO
recommendations, which underscore the need for the Election
Assistance Commission and the National Institute of Standards and
Technology to continue their work to establish standards and testing
procedures for voting equipment. This work must move ahead on an
ambitious schedule, and the Science Committee will continue to
monitor its progress."
"The foundation of democracy rests upon the accuracy, integrity and
security of our voting system," Rep. Gordon said. "The Science
Committee gave the National Institute of Standards and Technology a
pivotal role to ensure that our voting systems are trustworthy.
However - as the GAO report highlights - much remains to be done
before the next election cycle. Their report is a wake-up call for
adequate funding for NIST's activities and makes clear that closer
oversight by Congress is warranted."
Background / GAO Results Summary
All levels of government share responsibility in the U.S. election
process. At the federal level, Congress has authority under the
Constitution to regulate presidential and congressional elections.
The Help America Vote Act of 2002 increased the federal role in state
and local elections, in part by giving states the resources to
improve the accessibility, security, and reliability of their voting
systems. Under HAVA, nearly $39 billion has been allocated to states
to purchase electronic voting systems and improve the voting process.
Voting System Vulnerabilities Identified by GAO:
· Cast ballots, ballot definition files, memory cards, and audit logs
could be modified.
· Supervisor functions were protected with weak or easily guessed
passwords, and memory cards that allowed individuals access to voting
machines were inadequately protected.
· Systems had easily picked locks and power switches that were
exposed and unprotected.
· Voting machine vendors had weak security practices, including the
failure to conduct background checks on programmers and system
developers, and the failure to establish clear chain of custody
procedures for handling software.
Voting System Failures Have Already Occurred During Elections
In addition to identifying potential vulnerabilities, GAO identified
a number of cases of operational failures in real elections. These
examples included:
· In California, a county presented voters with an incorrect
electronic ballot, meaning they could not vote in certain races.
· In Pennsylvania, a county made a ballot error on an electronic
voting system that resulted in the county's undervote percentage
reaching 80% in some precincts.
· In North Carolina, electronic voting machines continued to accept
votes after their memories were full, causing over 4,000 votes to be
lost.
· In Florida, a county reported that touch screens took up to an hour
to activate and had to be activated sequentially, resulting in long
delays.
Problems With Implementation of Voluntary Standards, Testing, and
Federal Efforts to Improve Voting System Security
GAO reported that voluntary standards for electronic voting adopted
in 2002 by the Federal Election Commission contain vague and
incomplete security provisions, inadequate provisions for commercial
products and networks, and inadequate documentation requirements. GAO
also found that tests currently performed by independent testing
authorities and state and local election officials do not adequately
assess electronic voting system security and reliability
The GAO report indicated that national initiatives to improve voting
system security and reliability of electronic voting systems either
lack specific plans for implementation or are not expected to be
completed until after the 2006 election. According to GAO, "Until
these efforts are completed, there is a risk that many state and
local jurisdictions will rely on voting systems that were not
developed, acquired, testing, operated, or managed in accordance with
rigorous security and reliability standards - potentially affecting
the reliability of future elections and voter confidence in the
accuracy of the vote count"
The Election Assistance Commission, which was created as part of the
"Help American Vote Act" began operations in January 2004. To improve
the security and reliability of electronic voting systems, GAO
recommends that EAC establish tasks, processes, and time frames for
improving the federal voluntary voting system standards, testing
capabilities, and management support available to state and local
election officials. EAC commissioners agreed with GAO recommendations
and stated that actions on each are either under way or intended. The
National Institute of Standards' (NIST) director also agreed with the
report's conclusions.
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