NIST Draft Says “No” to Paperless Voting Machines

Staff of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in a draft a report prepared for Technical Guidelines Development Committee, who in turn support the US Election Assistance Commission (EAC), says that software-only voting machines cannot be secured against fraud and tampering. In its recommendations, it says, “STS recommends requiring SI voting systems...and, conversely, not permitting software-dependent approaches.” SI voting systems are those which are independent of software, and are considered such “if a previously undetected change or error in its software cannot cause an undetectable change or error in an election outcome.” One way is to require a voter-verified paper ballot, which can be recounted if needed, and compared to the electronic tally. Another is optical scan voting systems. In other words, the Diebold systems used here in Georgia will have to be fitted with printers that will allow a voter to verify their vote on paper before completion of the voting process. Or scrapped and replaced with something else altogether. I’m pleased to hear this, and I hope that this draft report is finalized as is, and that it makes its way to the EAC, and the recommendations become a federal law requiring paper audit trails of all voting machines used in the US. Even if this comes to pass, it’s gonna be a while. [via ABCNews and Truthdig]