Vote Tech

Vote Tech

Article from Issue 194/2017
Author(s):

The nature of the print publishing industry demands that I write this column some time before you read it. The first copies go on sale two weeks after our deadline, and, depending on where you live in the world, you could be seeing this issue one month or even two months after these words reach layout. Print publishing lives on because it has many admirable qualities, but low latency is not one of those benefits. This introduction is my graceful way of apologizing that what I'm thinking about now is probably not what you're thinking about when you read this. I'm thinking about the election in the US, which is happening the very day I write this column. You already know who won, and you are happily free from having to think about it, but maybe you should.

Dear Reader,

The nature of the print publishing industry demands that I write this column some time before you read it. The first copies go on sale two weeks after our deadline, and, depending on where you live in the world, you could be seeing this issue one month or even two months after these words reach layout. Print publishing lives on because it has many admirable qualities, but low latency is not one of those benefits. This introduction is my graceful way of apologizing that what I'm thinking about now is probably not what you're thinking about when you read this. I'm thinking about the election in the US, which is happening the very day I write this column. You already know who won, and you are happily free from having to think about it, but maybe you should.

A few days ago, the security vendor Cylance released a video showing how you can hack a Sequoia AVC Edge voting machine using a PCMCIA card [1]. You can change the votes (and even the names of the candidates) recorded on the machine. The Sequoia AVC Edge is used in assorted precincts in 13 states across the US. The community of activists who follow the electronic voting industry were not impressed with this demo, stating that this hack of the AVC Edge, which will also work on several other touchscreen-style voting machines, has been known for years.

[...]

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