[E-voting] Chaos Computer Club condemns e-voting machine

[Aengus Lawlor]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/10/chaos_calls_for_ban/

The German Computer Chaos Club, Europe's largest hacker group, has called 
for a ban on the Nedap ES3B voting machine and similar computers after a 
Dutch citizens group found flaws in the dated e-voting machine.

The computer is used in elections in the Netherlands, Germany and France, 
and marketed in the United States by Liberty Election Systems as the 
LibertyVote.
The Dutch group Wij vertrouwen stemcomputers niet ("We don't trust voting 
computers") recently produced a report after a month long investigation and 
uncovered several flaws. For instance the ES3B's radio emanations can be 
monitored to find out how voters were casting their electronic ballots.

Maurice Wessling of Wij vertrouwen stemcomputers niet says that compromising 
the system requires replacing only a single component, roughly the size of a 
stamp, and is "impossible to detect just by looking at the machine".

Nedap doesn't deny that manipulation is possible with the Nedap voting 
machine. "Everything can be manipulated," the Dutch company says. However, 
it says the machine is secured against deliberate manipulation. In general, 
Nedap says, manipulation is much more difficult than with 'paper' elections.

The Chaos Computer Club says the machines do not meet standards under German 
law and shouldn't be used until citizens can rest assured that their votes 
are securely and accurately processed.®


http://www.ccc.de/updates/2006/wahlcomputer