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DARPA Is Building a $10M, Open-Source, Secure Voting System

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Re: DARPA Is Building a $10M, Open-Source, Secure Voting System

#161

Post by Skye »

LinuxBender wrote: post #87
zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Have there been any competitions to make an open source, highly scalable and verifiable anti-tampering voting system Yes, for thousands of years. The result is called the paper ballot. You cannot have a verifiable anti-tampering voting system using computers. You need verifiability by the general public. Auditing a microchip is not something members of the general public know how to do, and in any case, it detroys…

Are those tamper proof? I recall some engineers testifying before congress about specifically making paper ballot systems that were designed to allow altering results. DieBold I think? I don't have a link handy, but it seems that is just as fallible. Or do you mean hand written ballots? Does anyone still use those? And yeah, the digital ones have been hacked at DefCon by children. (their parents taught them how to ha…

In the UK, ballots are still done with pen and paper. You put a cross in one of the labelled squares and fold the paper, then drop it into the ballot box.

Also, while the guidelines say it has to be a cross, it could be any clear mark (though best not to risk it), as soneone drew a rude symbol in a square and it was counted as a vote! (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32693485)

Re: DARPA Is Building a $10M, Open-Source, Secure Voting System

#162

Post by 0x00000000 »

tivert wrote: post #149
nathan_long wrote: post #8

> Kiniy said Galois will design two basic voting machine types. The first will be a ballot-marking device that uses a touch-screen for voters to make their selections. That system won’t tabulate votes. Instead it will print out a paper ballot marked with the voter’s choices, so voters can review them before depositing them into an optical-scan machine that tabulates the votes. Galois will bring this system to Def Con…

> The first will be a ballot-marking device that uses a touch-screen for voters to make their selections. That system won’t tabulate votes. Instead it will print out a paper ballot marked with the voter’s choices, so voters can review them before depositing them into an optical-scan machine that tabulates the votes. That seems backwards. Touch screens suck. Why not build a validation machine that voters can feed manu…

I think they want to simplify the human interaction as much as possible to eliminate things like hanging chads, misreads due to erasures etc. This also requires less importance on the other human step which is reviewing as there are hopefully fewer errors in the first place

Although I would favor a screen with physical buttons next to it (not like the garbage you see on ATMs and gas pumps though)

Re: DARPA Is Building a $10M, Open-Source, Secure Voting System

#163

Post by weej »

Title is misleading. This is 3rd party contractor that won an RFP bid yo push out hard copy verification of ballot and voter's choice with some "DARPA techniques". Not quite the secure confidential system with data integrity I was hoping for.

> We will show a methodology that could be used by others to build a voting system that is completely secure.

This really feels like a Proof-of-concept or reference architecture, at best.

Re: DARPA Is Building a $10M, Open-Source, Secure Voting System

#164

Post by weej »

weej wrote: post #163

Title is misleading. This is 3rd party contractor that won an RFP bid yo push out hard copy verification of ballot and voter's choice with some "DARPA techniques". Not quite the secure confidential system with data integrity I was hoping for. > We will show a methodology that could be used by others to build a voting system that is completely secure. This really feels like a Proof-of-concept or reference architecture…

That said, at least it's progress in the right direction (I Hope). We'll see how it turns out.

Re: DARPA Is Building a $10M, Open-Source, Secure Voting System

#166

Post by azernik »

dragontamer wrote: post #74
on_and_off wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

or just use paper ballots like other countries do ..

The Butterfly ballots WERE paper ballots. Give America an idea, and SOMEONE in America will royally screw it up. Its a big country filled with lots of smart people, but also filled with lots of dumb people. DARPA is working to come up with the standard that the whole country should follow. That's good and useful research. Even if it comes out to be the obvious solution (a paper ballot off of a damn printer), there's…

> Give America an idea, and SOMEONE in America will royally screw it up. Its a big country filled with lots of smart people, but also filled with lots of dumb people.

More specifically - it's a big country with a fantastic amount of decentralization. Elections are run and ballots are designed not, by national governments, not by state governments, but by county governments. The chance that someone will mess up is a lot higher.

(Of course, this does have the advantage that centralized tampering with the ballot is harder.)

Re: DARPA Is Building a $10M, Open-Source, Secure Voting System

#168

Post by nielgaard »

gonehome wrote: post #23
snowwrestler wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your ideal voting system is vulnerable to coercion ("log in and show me who you voted for or else") and phishing. Voting systems should provide confidence to voters that votes are counted correctly, but not permit anyone, including the voters themselves, to learn how they voted after the ballot is cast.

I love voting by mail, but I don't understand how that's legal since you could just coerce someone that way? Force them to vote by mail, watch them fill out the ballot (or fill it out for them), and mail it in.

At least here in Denmark mail voting does not just mean that you send your vote by mail.

It means that you before the voting date go to a public office, a consulate in a foreign country, etc., show you ID, go into a voting booth and votes, and they put you vote into an envelope, that is sealed and mailed to voting place.

Or that two appointed volunteers goes to e.g., a assisted living facility and witness residents voting and placing their vote in a envelope that is then sealed and mailed to a voting place.

Re: DARPA Is Building a $10M, Open-Source, Secure Voting System

#170

Post by rossdavidh »

weej wrote: post #163

Title is misleading. This is 3rd party contractor that won an RFP bid yo push out hard copy verification of ballot and voter's choice with some "DARPA techniques". Not quite the secure confidential system with data integrity I was hoping for. > We will show a methodology that could be used by others to build a voting system that is completely secure. This really feels like a Proof-of-concept or reference architecture…

"This really feels like a Proof-of-concept or reference architecture, at best."

I think that's DARPA's primary mission, though, isn't it?

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