Mar 19 2008
unverified voting
In case the situation isn’t clear:
- NJ county buys electronic voting machines.
- Princeton prof offers to help independently verify the vote from said machines.
- Maker of machines threatens to sue if independent verification occurs.
Would anyone like to tell me when corporate interests trumped democracy? How is this different than some goon with a baseball bat standing at the voting station telling me “Don’t worry… we’ll make sure your vote gets counted.”
Closed, unverified electronic voting machines are a threat to democracy.
From the Star-Ledger:
Union County has backed off a plan to let a Princeton University computer scientist examine voting machines where errors occurred in the presidential primary tallies, after the manufacturer of the machines threatened to sue, officials said today.
A Sequoia executive, Edwin Smith, put Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi on notice that an independent analysis would violate the licensing agreement between his firm and the county. In a terse two-page letter Smith also argued the voting machine software is a Sequoia trade secret and cannot be handed over to any third party.
