Tallahassee (FL) - Following an alarming report about the security of California's electronic voting machines, a new study shows Florida's systems still need some work too.

Yesterday, reports shined light on California's voting machines and a bevy of mechanical and electronic design flaws that could compromise election results.

The Florida study, performed by Florida State University's information technology lab, showed that there was potential for memory card fraud.  An external memory card, which is the only method of keeping track of the votes, is easily accessible and could be swapped out with one that gives an artificial vote count boost to a losing candidate.

Though the report about Florida's voting machines don't show as many potential areas for tampering as California's report does, it's still a concern for the Secretary of State Kurt Browning.  The Associated Press reports Browning has asked the manufacturer of the machines, Diebold, to fix these problems before next year's presidential primary election.

Last year was the first year for much of the country to implement touch screen voting systems.  While electronic fraud was not brought into any serious allegations, technical malfunctions caused several polling places to literally shut down and keep voters waiting in lines for hours, and in some cases required them to stay open past midnight.

While it would be nearly impossible for an ordinary voter to bypass some of the vulnerabilities raised for California and Florida without being noticed, it makes it easier for someone on the inside to tamper with the results.

Poll workers have intimate access with the machines and without more safeguards, could easily manipulate the vote tally.  The Florida report said an attack on the machines "can be carried out with a reasonably low probability of detection assuming that audits with paper ballots are infrequent."

no need for heroes...

Jul 31, 2007 16:48     

Seems that we don't need Micah Sanders any more to alter election results ^_^
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Florida Voting Problems

Jul 31, 2007 19:16     

Gee - do you think this could have been happening since 2000. No. No way Talahassee and the so called president's brother could have affected this election. This is America, after all. We are all honest upstanding christian people with deep religious values against cheating and deceiving the American public and the world
gwb report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

To: gwb (Hanging chads)

Jul 31, 2007 21:10     

Hanging chads were counted after the 2000 election, not computerized tallies.
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Popular Vote Loses.

Jul 31, 2007 21:35     

Maybe we should be looking more at the fact that certain states are worth more than others. I mean, back in 2000 (as someone else noted) Bush certainly did not win the popular vote. However, I went to public schools being taught that a democracy was, based on popular vote not that each state was worth more points or any other BS like that. I personally feel my generation needs to overthrow this Corporate Government, but that won't happen because we all would rather watch plane crashes on youtube and post stupid stuff on myspace. Lets all just ignore the fact that our government is stealing our money to give to these already rich corporations. Votes don't count anymore so why should we bother with something thats far over broken

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secret votes = possibility for fraud

Aug 01, 2007 03:25     

Imagine a voting system in a country with 100000 people with the right to vote. Each person receives a sequential number in that range. After he voted, he can check on the internet/by phone etc.. if his vote was correctly taken into account with. He can subsample a hundred random numbers and have an idea of the results. He could go over the whole 100000 number range and would be able to validate the official result. The only problem with this is that the voting done this way is no longer a secret vote. But congressmen, parliament members also take political decisions by non-secret voting, and they often get paid also for their vote. So yes there is a higher risk that people will get paid to vote, but even now this is beeing done.

PeterGoedtkindt report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Gasp

Aug 01, 2007 06:32     

Problems? With the voting machines?! Oh no, just in time to...Do absolutely nothing about it as always. Shock and dismay, Adios Ohio, we never knew thee(Or so the machines told us).
Revrant report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Printing will solve this electronic problem

Aug 01, 2007 08:57     

The best solution is for every vote counted to be printed out on a receipt as the vote is cast. It should be printed as a machine readable only printout and when or if there are any discrepencies they can simply scan in all the votes into a machine. This way there is a physical representation of every vote that is electronically unhackable.
BK report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

to JackCrackerMan

Aug 01, 2007 09:15     

Maybe you should try to understand the country you live in before you overthrow it. It is not a democracy and never has been. It is a representative republic. That you you 100 million liberals in NY don't always get to tell the 100,000 farmers in Iowa what to do.
cmb report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Why always Florida?

Aug 01, 2007 09:30     

What is it with you Floridians and your voting machines? For all the whining since 2000 (which ended up being correct, BTW) and all the money spent to replace the systems, one would think the problem is resolved. Well, I think the Democratic party in Florida is the force behind keeping this myth alive in order to force more future recounts when the lose again. I really doubt the margin of error is significantly greater than any other state in the US. You can hang your chads on that one folks!

Tex report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

It seems we are trading one vulnerabilities for ano...

Aug 01, 2007 10:00     

It seems we are trading one vulnerabilities for another. It's not like we didn't have all kinds of voter fraud or mistakes with paper ballots. At least with electronic ballots, we may cut back on the counting errors, and chad BS. The new machines need some work. They can be improved. They are probably as secure as paper ballots are now. At least they don't run windows for God's sake.
Gneisenau report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

re:popular vote loses

Aug 01, 2007 10:27     

Have you ever even read the Constitution that our government is based on? (I'm assuming not) While there are certainly many issues of abuses in power in our government, the so-called BS of "each state was worth more points" is not something new that was introduced so that "Votes don't count anymore." It's the way our republic (not democracy) was designed. Take a civics class...
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to cmb

Aug 01, 2007 10:43     

There are 100,000 farmers left in Iowa? I thought there were just 6 big corporate farm... ;)
Mojo Yugen report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

The silent coup marches across America

Aug 01, 2007 14:35     

When I first began research on A MARGIN OF ERROR BALLOTS OF STRAW, I wanted only to draw attention to a badly flawed election system. No conspiracy theory. Zip. But, as I started collecting “proof” to build a story…Well, if it’s too much of a coincidence…is it? A coincidence, that is? My characters took over and now I’m wondering if my characters got it right all along. Was there a glitch in the touch screens and ballot scanners that siphoned votes off heavily Democratic areas so that key Republicans held on in Florida? Nah! But then, where did those 18,000 votes go?

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hahaha

Aug 02, 2007 18:27     

And along with the cries of aliens stealing your cattle, america begins telling tales of the mysterious election aliens. Keep up the great international joke guys! From your loving long distance neighbors, Australia
skythra report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

voter verified

Aug 03, 2007 05:37     

Until we have federally mandated VOTER VERIFIED paper trails we will never be able to secure these machines. What is so hard about that to understand?
rudy report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Mentally challanged poll workers

Aug 03, 2007 13:46     

Polls manned by mentally deficient retirees. Fully accessible master reset cards. No paper trail. This is what I shall always remember about my recent Florida voting experiences. The possibilities for fraud were endless. I'd say "wake up Floridians" but only Lazarus could pull that off.
richard report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

re: Why always Florida?

Aug 03, 2007 14:19     

If you paid any attention to what happened it was verified the other way, twice. The supreme court ruled in favor of the then majority of the senate,republicans, to deny the right that gore had to do a triple recount, which would have given him the victory, again. It's funny how Neo-conservatives are so brainwashed that they don't even bother paying attention to what really happened(happens) if it doesn't go their way.

Forrest Campbell report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Bush gone in Florida

Aug 03, 2007 16:00     

It looks like Crisp might actually be fair minded unlike ole Jeb Bush. He may actually have backup in place in the 2008 elections. Maybe the US can get a fair election then.
Luke report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Florida quietly certifies Diebold voting machines

Aug 14, 2007 20:40     

Within one week of the time that California Secretary of State Debra Bowen (Democrat) DECERTIFIED virtually all Diebold voting machines in that vote-rich state, the Republican Secretary of State in Florida quietly announced on his official website (little publicity in newspapers) that he CERTIFIED the Diebold machines. What gives??
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