When are we going back to paper ballots again? Seriously, I’m all for technology, but I’m more in favor of an honest, secure voting system. Until we get past the fact that voter fraud has affected the last two elections and make electronic voting truly secure against hacking, our system is in jeopardy. The most recent voting machine hack occurred in New Jersey.

Sequioa Voting Systems operates electronic voting machines in New Jersey, and has been coming under fire of late for potential voter fraud. Their web site was hacked, specifically the “Ballot Blog” section. The blog was rendered empty and visitors were redirected to a page claiming that the site had been hacked, including a hacker’s tag line taking credit.

The owners of Sequioa Voting Systems have since restored the page, and claim they don’t remember the tag used by the hacker, other than that it was a series of letters and numbers. The company is currently under fire for problems with the New Jersey primary election ballot count results. The company supplies the state with AVC Advantage model evoting machines.

The company tried to blame the miscount on poll worker error, then said it was a software glitch that simply “required an upgrade”. State officials rightly claim that any upgrades and security issues should have been addressed before the election and that any fault lies with Sequioa Voting Systems. the company has resisted a recount or examination of the system, claiming such actions would violate their licensing agreement.

Related:

Entry was posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 4:44 pm under Malware, Security.

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