[8296] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: snake-oil projects -- 2 University Presidents Will Try to Improve Voting
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Derek Atkins)
Tue Dec 19 11:32:23 2000
To: Ed Gerck <egerck@nma.com>
Cc: cryptography@c2.net
From: Derek Atkins <warlord@mit.edu>
Date: 18 Dec 2000 12:04:44 -0500
In-Reply-To: Ed Gerck's message of "Fri, 15 Dec 2000 09:41:49 -0800"
Message-ID: <sjmg0jlzmmr.fsf@rcn.ihtfp.org>
It's not snake oil if you can possibly produce it. There are plenty
of "electronic voting" (read: NOT internet voting) systems that are
"foolproof, secure, simple to operate", so the question is whether you
can make it affordable. This is not selling a product, it's selling a
project goal. Therefore, it is not snake oil.
The biggest problem to solve with Internet voting is the registration
process. If you have electronic booths at the polling places, then
you can still use the existing registration process, even though the
votes are taken digitally. The end result, I would hope, would be a
printed piece of paper that could be scanned optically or read by hand
manually. Therefore the user:
a) cannot make the type of ballot mistakes that have happened
recently, and
b) software voting doesn't need to be as trustworthy, because
you can manually verify the ballot
Please, keep snake-oil decrees to real products that don't work as
advertized, not ideas that you don't agree with.
-derek
Ed Gerck <egerck@nma.com> writes:
> In http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/15/politics/15MIT.html
>
> "The idea," Dr. Baltimore said, "is to produce a system that is foolproof, secure,
> simple to operate and affordable so that it can be in every precinct in America. The
> system should also give everyone a record of their vote, so they know exactly
> what they have done at the polls."
>
> and which allows the voter to prove how he voted (and cash in), might
> someone add.
>
> I guess snake-oil projects are getting a good company. Also, they all seem to
> like to promise "foolproof, secure, simple to operate and affordable".
>
> Cheers,
>
> Ed Gerck
>
>
--
Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board (SIPB)
URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/ PP-ASEL-IA N1NWH
warlord@MIT.EDU PGP key available
