[liberationtech] Free and Fair Elections in Egypt

[Sheila Parks]

Thanks for this

I will read tomorrow, which I see it almost is

Many of us who are voting rights activists think there is no such 
thing as a secure e-voting machine, so I am interested if this 
proposes anything new or the same old same old

Sheila

At 11:44 PM 2/13/2011, Leslie Wu wrote:
>Ka-ping Yee at Berkeley wrote his Berkeley CS PhD thesis on secure 
>electronic voting technology: <http://pvote.org/>http://pvote.org/
>
>Not sure if anyone has put his software into real-use yet, but I 
>wonder how much cost would be a factor.
>
>The EVM-CCS10 paper prices current EVM at < $200, but we have 
>Android Tablets these days..
>
>~L
>
>On Sun, Feb 13, 2011 at 6:02 PM, Sheila Parks 
><<mailto:sheilaruthparks at comcast.net>sheilaruthparks at comcast.net> wrote:
>Thanks, Rebecca
>
>I do agree and hope that the Egyptians won't go to the e-voting 
>machines, but who knows
>
>And the experiences of the rigged elections in Egypt for the last 30 
>years, or whenever they had elections, were they always 
>hand-counted, do you know?
>
>An election now in Egypt will be so different from when Mubarak and 
>his thugs ran one, that I hope the Egyptians don't do what Steve did 
>in his email, that is, turn to the past and the elections
>
>Ireland, the Netherlands, and Germany have all gotten rid of their 
>e-voting machines and yes, there is lots of trouble in India
>
>I do not understand how anyone could trust a machine or a computer, 
>to count our votes
>
>Sheila
>
>
>At 04:25 PM 2/13/2011, Rebecca MacKinnon wrote:
>>Important points.
>>
>>Still, it's not a bad idea for people trying to put together free 
>>and fair elections for the first time to be mindful - along with 
>>all of those core prerequisites you mention - of the problems 
>>emerging around the world with electronic voting machines.
>>
>>See for example this "Security Analysis of India's Electronic 
>>Voting Machines" by a multi-national team of computer scientists:
>><http://www.cse.umich.edu/%7Ejhalderm/pub/papers/evm-ccs10.pdf>http://www.cse.umich.edu/~jhalderm/pub/papers/evm-ccs10.pdf
>>
>>In the event (which may be unlikely) that the use of electronic 
>>voting machines is seriously proposed or considered in Egypt, these 
>>problems are certainly an excellent reason to stick with paper ballots.
>>
>>
>>On Feb 13, 2011, at 3:05 PM, Steve Weis wrote:
>>
>>>Egypt used hand-counted paper ballots in 2010 [1]. That didn't 
>>>prevent voter intimidation or ballot stuffing, like what's 
>>>apparently shown in this video: 
>>><http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4HBUKkXyIc>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4HBUKkXyIc
>>>
>>>The specific mechanism of how the votes are cast is largely 
>>>irrelevant without vote enfranchisement, safe voting locations, 
>>>media freedoms, electoral oversight, and the ability to audit the 
>>>results. Focusing on whether someone votes with a pen and paper, 
>>>or a touchscreen is missing the bigger picture.
>>>
>>>[1] - "Furor Grows Over Egypt's Election Results", 
>>><http://www.npr.org/2010/11/30/131704396/calls-grow-to-set-aside-egypt-s-election-results>http://www.npr.org/2010/11/30/131704396/calls-grow-to-set-aside-egypt-s-election-results 
>>>
>>>
>>>On Sun, Feb 13, 2011 at 10:00 AM, Sheila Parks 
>>><<mailto:sheilaruthparks at comcast.net> sheilaruthparks at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>My blood runs cold every time I hear that, wondering if, no WHEN 
>>>the US privatized, riggable electronic voting machine industry 
>>>will try to sell their poisons to Egypt.
>>>The youth and geeks who organized and those millions of leaders 
>>>who took part in Revolution know better than that, I tell myself
>>>I would really appreciate comments from you who are involved in 
>>>democracy and technology.
>>>
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>
>Sheila Parks, Ed.D.
>
>Founder
>Center for Hand-Counted Paper Ballots
>Belmont, MA 02478
>617-932-1424
>DEMOCRACY IN OUR HANDS
><http://www.handcountedpaperballots.org/>www.handcountedpaperballots.org
><mailto:sheila at handcountedpaperballots.org>sheila at handcountedpaperballots.org 
>
>
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Sheila Parks, Ed.D.
Founder
Center for Hand-Counted Paper Ballots
Belmont, MA 02478
617-932-1424
DEMOCRACY IN OUR HANDS
www.handcountedpaperballots.org
sheila at handcountedpaperballots.org
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