Live data from Hacker News

Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

wsj.com

21–30 of 207 posts

Re: Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

#21
post #7

I work for the municipality of Skanderborg, Denmark. We have what we call digital elections, but what’s digitized is the registration process. Basically every adult gets a voting card with their information + a barcode, we scan those barcodes when they turn up to receive their ballot(is that the right word for voting list?), and then they are registered. The actual voting takes place on paper, and while it takes time…

Believe it or note, requiring ID to vote in the United States is considered controversial.

My polling place features first a comparison of photo id to the person and then an amateur attempts and fails to properly frank the voter's signature. How is it that passing the Real-ID photo-ID hurdle but failing the amateur-verified signature franking is acceptable in this country?

Re: Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

#22
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s a little taxing, but everyone involved enjoy the process This is part of the problem in the United States. Voting is a chore, and you're often going to lose money (unpaid time off) to do it. If elections were national holidays and voting was treated as a privilege instead of a chore, we would be much better off.

Why are elections not held on Sundays ? I assume that on average there are less people working that day that Monday - Friday, so less people would have to take time off from their job. Edit: Found this > In 1845, the United States Congress chose a single date for all national elections in all states. The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November was chosen so that there would never be more than 34 days between…

Elections are held on Tuesday as a way of restricting who can vote PERIOD. Poorer voters have a harder time getting off work, and getting transportation to voting site, which is usually close to their home, but not their work.

Re: Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

#23
post #18

With all of this discussion in Washington about Russian hacking and Russian voter influencing, why are these demonstrably vulnerable voting machines hardly mentioned? It would seem to me this should be a number one priority to prevent outside interference.

I've wondered about this and also the fact that 'hacking' our election isn't terribly difficult when all you have to do is manipulate a very small number of swing counties. My conclusion thus far has been that even the media must be necessarily complicit in the farce of a free and fair election system. There's a strong incentive for everyone to believe this in order to maintain stability.

Re: Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

#24
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But there was some ID to get that piece of paper right?

Well, it’s sent to your address. We do have a central registry of every citizen, so I guess that might scare some Americans. You don’t need that though, you could pick up your registration at any municipality with your ID. That’s how I vote, I work from before the voting starts to after it closes, so I vote via mail.

> We do have a central registry of every citizen, so I guess that might scare some Americans.

US has same registry. It might not include every american but I'd be suprised if it doesn't have 99.99% of all Americans in it.

Re: Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

#25
post #7

I work for the municipality of Skanderborg, Denmark. We have what we call digital elections, but what’s digitized is the registration process. Basically every adult gets a voting card with their information + a barcode, we scan those barcodes when they turn up to receive their ballot(is that the right word for voting list?), and then they are registered. The actual voting takes place on paper, and while it takes time…

Believe it or note, requiring ID to vote in the United States is considered controversial.

The example in the OP notes that every adult gets a voter registration card, by default.

No proposal for voter ID in the US has ever accompanied a serious effort to ensure all citizens have easy access to suitable ID.

Many proposals have been explicitly crafted on the back of data gathering campaigns to determine which forms of ID "unfavorable" groups generally do not have.

Re: Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

#26
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s a little taxing, but everyone involved enjoy the process This is part of the problem in the United States. Voting is a chore, and you're often going to lose money (unpaid time off) to do it. If elections were national holidays and voting was treated as a privilege instead of a chore, we would be much better off.

Why are elections not held on Sundays ? I assume that on average there are less people working that day that Monday - Friday, so less people would have to take time off from their job. Edit: Found this > In 1845, the United States Congress chose a single date for all national elections in all states. The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November was chosen so that there would never be more than 34 days between…

Elections were originally on Tuesdays because "Tuesday was established as election day because it did not interfere with the Biblical Sabbath or with market day, which was on Wednesday in many towns."

Why hasn't it changed? Because to change it the party in power would have to vote to massively change voting block, almost certainly swinging several elections. Since the party is in power, they have no interest in this.

Additionally, the people who want it changed are probably the people who can't easily vote on Tuesday. These people already don't vote, so they can't influence their politicians to support changing the day.

Re: Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

#27
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because citizens are not required to have ID and those that don't have one are disproportionately racial minorities and/or in lower socioeconomic classes. Democrats would be much more willing to allow ID to be required to vote if there was a national ID card issued to every citizen, but Republicans would be against any system that would try to create a national ID.

We desperately need a national ID card. Social security was never designed for this purpose and it's terrible for it. Drivers license requires having access to a car and some way to learn how to use it.

If we're going to have a national ID card, then it needs to be:

1) Free. Period. Otherwise you're going to disenfranchise poor people who can't afford even $50 to get an ID.

2) Universally accessible. If we're going to require it, then we need to make sure everyone has one, from a little old lady living 100 miles from civilization in Montana, to the homeless living in camps near San Jose.

Re: Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

#28
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because citizens are not required to have ID and those that don't have one are disproportionately racial minorities and/or in lower socioeconomic classes. Democrats would be much more willing to allow ID to be required to vote if there was a national ID card issued to every citizen, but Republicans would be against any system that would try to create a national ID.

We desperately need a national ID card. Social security was never designed for this purpose and it's terrible for it. Drivers license requires having access to a car and some way to learn how to use it.

I'm not particularly informed on arguments for and against this, but shouldn't a national ID require some modicum of trust in the national government? In their ability to keep the database safe from bad actors, including Executives that fancy themselves dictators?

A national ID sounds like a terrible idea for this country right now.

Re: Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

#29
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are elections not held on Sundays ? I assume that on average there are less people working that day that Monday - Friday, so less people would have to take time off from their job. Edit: Found this > In 1845, the United States Congress chose a single date for all national elections in all states. The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November was chosen so that there would never be more than 34 days between…

Elections are held on Tuesday as a way of restricting who can vote PERIOD. Poorer voters have a harder time getting off work, and getting transportation to voting site, which is usually close to their home, but not their work.

Seems simple enough to just make it a national holiday.

Re: Voting Machine Used in Half of U.S. Is Vulnerable to Attack, Report Finds

#30

I work for the municipality of Skanderborg, Denmark. We have what we call digital elections, but what’s digitized is the registration process. Basically every adult gets a voting card with their information + a barcode, we scan those barcodes when they turn up to receive their ballot(is that the right word for voting list?), and then they are registered. The actual voting takes place on paper, and while it takes time…

> It’s a little taxing, but everyone involved enjoy the process This is part of the problem in the United States. Voting is a chore, and you're often going to lose money (unpaid time off) to do it. If elections were national holidays and voting was treated as a privilege instead of a chore, we would be much better off.

The state of Oregon has vote by mail. Its awesome. My ballot gets mailed to me a few weeks before the election. I fill it out, and can either mail it back (I have to pay for a postage stamp) or drop it off at a ballot drop box all over town.

there are all sorts of safeguards for things like not getting your ballot in the mail, etc. I was also automatically register to vote as an independent when I got my drivers license. (they mailed me a form I could return/mail to change party, if I wanted to).

My last state, my town was small, had a single polling place, and trying to vote before work meant getting there before they opened at 7am, or else wait 60-90 min to vote, and be late to work. (or come in after work, and wait 60-90 minutes).

Post reply on HN