I didn't copy the whole release in my previous email.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 11, 2008
/*Contact: David Dill
650-725-3642
dill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx*
/
/**/
*Computer Scientists Issue Warning about Internet Voting *
A group of computer scientists and technology professionals has issued a
statement warning that Internet voting is an idea whose time has not
come. Organized by David Dill, Professor of Computer Science at
Stanford University and founder of VerifiedVoting.org, the statement
cautions that elections conducted via the Internet cannot be verifiably
accurate until "serious, potentially insurmountable technical
challenges" are overcome. [The statement can be viewed here:
http://verifiedvoting.org/article.php?id=5867 ] Internet voting was used
in a pilot in this year's primaries and pilots may occur in two states
this November.
"Study after study by computer scientists has concluded that safe
internet voting is a very hard technical problem, but politicians assume
it's easy," said Dill. "In this statement, we're saying 'This is going
to be a disaster unless we think it through first.'"
Malicious software could change, fabricate, or delete votes cast over
the Internet, as well as deceive or disenfranchise voters, the
technologists warn.
"Voting is a different problem from online commerce" said Dill. "If I
use a credit card over the internet, my name is on the order and I'll
get a statement at the end of the month with a list of charges. But a
secret ballot over the internet can't have the voter's name on it, by
definition. Verifying that votes are cast and counted as intended over
the internet, without compromising ballot secrecy, is an extremely
tricky technical problem that e-commerce doesn't face."
The technologists note that much of the momentum for Internet voting
comes from the difficulty that overseas voters, especially those serving
in the armed forces, experience in voting. The group offers
alternatives, such as using the Internet to create a printed paper
ballot, and extending the deadline for receipt of military and other
overseas ballots.
"Americans serving in the military deserve every opportunity to cast a
vote, but it does not enfranchise voters if the system allows their
votes to be lost or stolen undetectably," Dill said. "They deserve better."
Initial signers of the Internet voting statement include: David
Jefferson, a computer scientist at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory who
chaired the technical committee of the first task force to study
Internet voting (for the Secretary of State of California, in 1999);
Bruce Schneier, one of the world's authorities on computer security and
the author of the widely used security reference work /Applied
Cryptography/; Douglas Jones, a computer scientist at the University of
Iowa and an internationally recognized expert on electronic voting
systems; as well as computer scientists from Princeton University,
Stanford University, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and from
the private sector. The statement is also the official position of
Verified Voting on the question of Internet voting. Technologists
interested in signing the statement should contact Professor Dill.