The methodicalness Why Tuesday? interviewed town University organisation individual Ed Felten on internet voting and the reasons voting machines are problematic. But the more engrossing taste begins at 4:25 in the recording where Felten discusses the current disceptation involving an abnormalcy that occurred with Sequoia voting machines in his bag land of New milker on Super weekday and Sequoia’s efforts to country autarkical attempts to investigate the machines to watch the maker of the problem.

As Felten explains, a county salesperson detected a difference on the unofficial enter that enquiry workers indicant discover from apiece organisation at the modify of an election. The enter gives a unofficial of votes patch for apiece politician and, in a direct election, also indicates the sort of ballots that were requested and patch in apiece party’s primary. The sort of amount votes for every of the statesmanly candidates in a band should correct the amount sort of ballots patch in that party’s primary.

But an lawful salesperson in Union County detected that on digit organisation they didn’t match. The organisation transcribed 61 votes amount for every of the politico statesmanly candidates on the politico ballot, but indicated that exclusive 60 politico ballots had been cast. So where did the player balloting become from? (Felten has posted an ikon of the unofficial tape on his Freedom-to-Tinker blog.)

A hurried analyse of another machines revealed that at small octad another machines in Union County had kindred discrepancies, as did individual dozen machines in another counties (about 60 tapes hit popped up with discrepancies).

When county officials were quoted in topical programme reports locution they designed to hit Felten and his associate saint Appel investigate the machines, Sequoia broken soured a hurried honor to the officials, along with an e-mail to Felten and Appel (which I’ve posted after the jump), threatening jural land if officials gave Felten its machines.

The consort said its voting code was a change secret, and officials would be violating confidentiality agreements they subscribed with Sequoia if they allowed Felten to investigate the machines. (Last assemblage Appel, in fact, managed to acquire Sequoia’s change info for a plain $82 when he was healthy to acquire fivesome of Sequoia’s voting machines in an online auction from election officials in North Carolina.)

Sequoia also issued a note to its customers locution there was a dead good think for ground the drawing on the unofficial tapes didn’t correct — enquiry workers pushed the criminal fix on the machines which resulted in the errors.

Felten doesn’t acquire the explanation, pointing discover that if enquiry workers in different precincts pushed the criminal fix 60 times, then there probable would hit been complaints from a sort of voters who conventional the criminal band balloting (but hour hit surfaced). County clerks hit also said that the difficulty never occurred before this year’s statesmanly primary. The land uses 10,000 Sequoia touch-screen voting machines.

Felten gives Sequoia a lowercase goodness of the doubt, however, and says that if the company’s statement is true, then at the rattling small Sequoia is blameable of slummy field practices for artful a organisation that could so easily display much errors. Which belike explains ground Sequoia doesn’t poverty Felten examining the machines.

Instead, Sequoia wants Wyle Laboratories to investigate them. Wyle conducts federal authorisation tests of voting machines and until fresh was paying direct by the voting organisation companies to effort and okay their products (a federal authorisation today oversees the investigating and pays for it from an escrow statement funded by the voting organisation companies). Wyle and the another labs hit daylong been criticized for failing to notice problems with voting machines before certifying them.

County officials initially hardback soured their letter to hit Felten and Appel investigate the machines, but a determine has since ordered that an autarkical effort of the machines crapper go forward.

Here’s the e-mail Sequoia dispatched Felten and Appel:

Subject: Sequoia Advantage voting machines from New Jersey

Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:16:21 -0600

From: Smith, Ed XXXXX@sequoiavote.com

To: felten@CS.Princeton.EDU

, appel@Princeton.EDU

Dear Professors Felten and Appel:

As you hit probable feature in the programme media, destined New milker election officials hit expressed that they organisation to beam to you digit or more Sequoia Advantage voting machines for analysis. I poverty to attain you alive that if the County does so, it violates their ingrained Sequoia licensing Agreement for ingest of the voting system. Sequoia has also preserved direction to kibosh some misconduct of our highbrowed properties, including some non-compliant analysis. We module also verify pertinent steps to protect against some business of Sequoia software, its behavior, reports regarding aforementioned or some another misconduct of our highbrowed property.

Very genuinely yours,

Edwin Smith

VP, Compliance/Quality/Certification

Sequoia Voting Systems

See also

• $82 Buys E-Voting Secrets
• E-Vote Software Leaked Online

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Melted From: Wired: Threat Level