Chilly Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 The Diebold DRE voting machines are pathetic and this is not getting nearly enough attention from the media that it deserves. Ars Technica has made an article entited How to steal an election talking about just how easy it is. I'd like to highlight some points from this article: The Ohio Compuware report describes how to turn a voter card into a supervisor card, which can then be used to cast multiple votes, delete votes, or shut down the machine, using a PDA with a smartcard attachment. In order to use a supervisor card to access the AccuVote, you must first enter a four-digit PIN. In version of the machine that was in use as late as 2003, the exact same supervisor PIN was hard-coded into every single AccuVote TS shipped nationwide. That PIN was 1111. (I am not making this up.) This is still the default PIN for these machines, although the county can change it on a machine-by-machine basis if they have the workers and the time. All of the AccuVotes have the same lock securing the PCMCIA slot that contains the Flash card with all the votes on it. When I say the "same" lock, I mean the exact same key opens all of the machines. But even if you don't have one of the tens of thousands of copies of this key that are floating around, the lock can be picked by an amateur in under 10 seconds. The Princeton video has a nice demo of this. Once you have access to the PCMCIA slot, you can do all kinds of great stuff, like upload vote-stealing software (a simple reboot will cause the machine to load software from whatever you've put in the PCMCIA slot), crash the system, delete all the votes on the machine, etc. Jesus F'in Christ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungee Jumper Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 The Diebold DRE voting machines are pathetic and this is not getting nearly enough attention from the media that it deserves. Ars Technica has made an article entited How to steal an election talking about just how easy it is. I'd like to highlight some points from this article: Jesus F'in Christ. 817902[/snapback] I don't think this qualifies as "stealing" an election. Thieves are much more creative. Seriously...do you honestly think Diebold would attempt to set up the entire country for massive election fraud in such an obvious manner that everyone and their grandmother could hack into their system? I find it much more likely that they're simply totally incompetent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilly Posted October 26, 2006 Author Share Posted October 26, 2006 I don't think this qualifies as "stealing" an election. Thieves are much more creative. Seriously...do you honestly think Diebold would attempt to set up the entire country for massive election fraud in such an obvious manner that everyone and their grandmother could hack into their system? I find it much more likely that they're simply totally incompetent. 817942[/snapback] No I agree with you that they're incompetent, I just don't understand why people are so tolerant of their incompetence. EDIT: Let me rephrase, why the media is so tolerant of their incompetence. It doesn't cost them much (unlike political reporting) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 Very confusing....it's much easier to steal an election by installing all your own people at the local level like the Dems did in Chicago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungee Jumper Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 EDIT: Let me rephrase, why the media is so tolerant of their incompetence. It doesn't cost them much (unlike political reporting) 817951[/snapback] Because they can't make it salacious. If you could abuse Congressional pages with a Diebold machine, they'd be all over it like white on rice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilly Posted October 26, 2006 Author Share Posted October 26, 2006 Because they can't make it salacious. If you could abuse Congressional pages with a Diebold machine, they'd be all over it like white on rice... 817974[/snapback] Hell, I think its already enough of a big thing to warrant attention. This is much more controversial then the Times' Murtha Pork Project story. I guess I don't see much difference between the pork project story and this one in terms of selling newspapers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungee Jumper Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 Hell, I think its already enough of a big thing to warrant attention. This is much more controversial then the Times' Murtha Pork Project story. I guess I don't see much difference between the pork project story and this one in terms of selling newspapers. 817983[/snapback] 1) It's not salacious. 2) It's not Iraq. 3) The Democrats may actually win Congress in the mid-terms; the liberal media isn't going to call attention to massive voting irregularities too early and blow the Democrats' chances. (I've got $5 that says the NYT breaks the story if Dems lose, but Fox does if they win. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 No I agree with you that they're incompetent, I just don't understand why people are so tolerant of their incompetence. 817951[/snapback] You're a liberal, you should be explaining to us how to be tolerant of incompetence. You've got all of history to draw from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilly Posted October 26, 2006 Author Share Posted October 26, 2006 1) It's not salacious.2) It's not Iraq. Neither has all of the other horse race coverage that has been going on in the media about the current elections. 3) The Democrats may actually win Congress in the mid-terms; the liberal media isn't going to call attention to massive voting irregularities too early and blow the Democrats' chances. (I've got $5 that says the NYT breaks the story if Dems lose, but Fox does if they win. ) 817985[/snapback] Stop trying to get me upset with those liberal media comments. You how how those inaccurate comments annoy me. You're a liberal, you should be explaining to us how to be tolerant of incompetence. You've got all of history to draw from. 818000[/snapback] lol, if you want to put it into those terms, might as well talk about history for all governments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungee Jumper Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 Neither has all of the other horse race coverage that has been going on in the media about the current elections. Are you joking? The only races I see coverage on are those involving some real or presumed scandal (e.g. Ohio), or Iraq (e.g. Lieberman's race in Connecticut). Stop trying to get me upset with those liberal media comments. You how how those inaccurate comments annoy me. 818041[/snapback] Bite me. The liberal media's liberal. The conservative media's conservative. The media, overall, isn't all liberal or conservative...just bull sh--. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilly Posted October 27, 2006 Author Share Posted October 27, 2006 Are you joking? The only races I see coverage on are those involving some real or presumed scandal (e.g. Ohio), or Iraq (e.g. Lieberman's race in Connecticut). In the NYT they have articles everyday on a race, I've been reading them. Its always about strategy in different races. The last one I read was about North Dakota lol. Bite me. The liberal media's liberal. The conservative media's conservative. The media, overall, isn't all liberal or conservative...just bull sh--. 818084[/snapback] Hah, alright. I thought you were going more along the lines of the "OMG!!! LIBERAL MEDIA JESUS FIN CHRIST THEY HATE ME YARRRRRRRRRR!". Didn't pickup the context you said it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 lol, if you want to put it into those terms, might as well talk about history for all governments. 818041[/snapback] Works for me, as long as the end result is MUCH less government. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.Y. Orangeman Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 Works for me, as long as the end result is MUCH less government. 818143[/snapback] Will you give the rest of us from the lower 48 back our tax subsidies? (j/k) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 Will you give the rest of us from the lower 48 back our tax subsidies? (j/k) 818985[/snapback] No. But thanks for being so polite about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HereComesTheReignAgain Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 The Diebold DRE voting machines are pathetic and this is not getting nearly enough attention from the media that it deserves. Ars Technica has made an article entited How to steal an election talking about just how easy it is. I'd like to highlight some points from this article: Jesus F'in Christ. 817902[/snapback] I think we should focus an the fact that the Dems are pushing for rules that forbid ID requirements at the polls. If you can't or won't show ID at the polls, you are either a criminal, an illegal, or an imposter. I wonder how many Dems will be pushing this "voter machine aren't reliable" act if they happen to win many elections. That will be the test of the integrity of their argument. Refuse to take office until the results are proven to be correct! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Live&DieBillsFootball Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 I just don't understand the need for electronic machines that can be hacked. What is wrong with the old flip-the-levers machines that we used in WNY for all these years. This is one thing that I like "low-tech". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungee Jumper Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 I just don't understand the need for electronic machines that can be hacked. What is wrong with the old flip-the-levers machines that we used in WNY for all these years. This is one thing that I like "low-tech". 819282[/snapback] It's the American Way. Spending money on advanced technology to fix a fundamentally human problem - in this case, the fundamentally human problem of Florida's inability to define a "vote" coherently. Would have been a lot cheaper for every state to review their election laws and guidelines to make sure that a "vote" was concretely and coherently defined, rather than leave it to the vote counters to divine the "intent of the voter". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 I just don't understand the need for electronic machines that can be hacked. What is wrong with the old flip-the-levers machines that we used in WNY for all these years. This is one thing that I like "low-tech". 819282[/snapback] Actually from what I hear... They used the New York style booths here in Illinois sometime ago... I guess they are a pain in the arse and easy to rig??? NYS, I think has universal voting regs... Other states are a lot different... Here the punch cards years ago... Way, way ago... Would be hung on strings through the puch hole... The common votes/cards would line up... Different votes, different card positions... How low tech can that be? A lot lower tech than a finicky electrical switch booth that is a pain in the arse to maintain and needs constant support staff on site (ie: electricians)... Think about it, electricans are some of the most pro-union out there... Think it is possible they rig or "dump" machines when they need to fix those finicky machines... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 I forgot to add... I never understood the "hanging chad" thing... Like I said, in the old days, a string would be hung... What do you think they would do if they saw a partially puched card? You bet, run the string through that opening... Onward! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 Here the punch cards years ago... Way, way ago... Would be hung on strings through the puch hole... The common votes/cards would line up... Different votes, different card positions.. In Minnesota and Wisconsin, it's even easier. They give you a voting card and a black marker, and you literally draw a line pointing to who you are voting for. <President> -----> George W Bush | ------> John Kerry Just highlight the path that you're voting for. No chance for misunderstanding, no hanging chads, and no way to rig it (well, I suppose someone could invalidate your vote by making multiple lines for each vote). CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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