With all the problems and flaws in electronic voting machines being exposed over the past couple months, I’d like to know why there hasn’t been any effort in designing a new voting system from scratch. What does an electronic voting machine need to be secure and reliable? The effort almost seems to simple:

  • A paper trail with no edit-ability. Perhaps design a system that will punch, cut and read a ticket that the voter can then instantly verify before it is dropped into a locked ballot box
  • Eliminate removable memory cards.. How can we reprogram the machine after the election for the next one? There still needs to be something removable and some tamper-evident stickers and alarms in place.
  • The more simple the code is, the less bugs and security flaws it will contain
  • Have software check itself using checksums, and perhaps implement microchips to take on the task as well.
  • Provide source code to the public. This would give the entire nation a chance to review the code, and/or audit running code whenever they feel is necessary
  • Random audits and machine checks before the booths open
  • Hand count paper ballots and compare with electronic tallies

Then arises the issue of how can a voter know for sure their vote was counted correctly? I’m still pondering the idea as well… and it seems there might not be a simple solution. Anyone have any ideas?