Iowa Voters

Register reporter Jennifer Jacobs has written a primer on Iowa’s voting machines and why they get criticized. She also quotes Charlie Krogmeier telling a whopper:

“We try to be exhaustive in testing the combinations of votes, and if the machines have been programmed to, say, shave off every 10th vote, that should pop up,” he said.

When I went to watch the testing in Pocahontas before the June primary no candidate got ten votes, so they could not detect any vote-shaving as Krogmeier claims. Typically each candidate got one vote to see if it was being read by the machine.

Furthermore they tested the machine in “TEST MODE” but ran it in a different mode on election day.

Besides, any clever programmer wanting to steal an election would be smart enough to hide his theft, as described in the Brennan Center report:

“There are a number of techniques that could be used to ensure that testing does not detect the attack program.

” The attack program could note the time and date on the voting machine’s clock, and only trigger when the time and date are consistent with an election. This method could, by itself, prevent detection during vendor testing, Logic and Accuracy Testing and Acceptance Testing, but not during Parallel Testing.

” The attack program could observe behavior that is consistent with a test (as opposed to actual voter behavior). For example, if Logic and Accuracy Testing is known never to take more than four hours, the attack program could wait until the seventh hour to trigger. (Note that the attack becomes more difficult if the protocol for testing varies from election to election).

” The attack program could activate only when it receives some communication from the attacker or her confederates. For example, some specific pattern of interaction between the voter or election official and the voting machine may be used to trigger the attack behavior. This is often called a “Cryptic Knock.”

Thanks to Sean for finding that quote.

The Register also editorializes on the subject. I’ll go along with many of their conclusions, since this is Iowa after all. Especially I like the point about decentralized election administration.

They make one error, however. The counting is NOT done by local auditors. It is done by the voting machine software, which no auditor is allowed to inspect. Elections are not as decentralized as we like to think.

Any Iowa voter can use paper ballots at the polling place on November 7, even in counties that do not offer them to voters. That is according to Deputy Secretary of State Charlie Krogmeier.

All polls have on hand some paper ballots in case there is a machine failure or for use as provisional ballots by citizens whose voter registration is in doubt. ANY VOTER can ask to use those paper ballots.

Krogmeier told Iowans for Voting Integrity president Carole Simmons that

While we have intsructed Auditors to tell their precinct election officials that any voter may use one if they ask, we are not “advertising” this . . .

I’ll bet not. The case against touchscreen voting is getting so much press, officials probably fear they’ll cause a stampede if they hint that alternatives might be advisable.

I’m under no such constraints. I’m positive alternatives are advisable. Since the legislature failed last March to require a paper trail, it is time to blaze the trail at the grassroots.

If you live in one of the touchscreen counties and plan on voting at the polls, feel free to ask for a paper ballot.

I imagine this will cause considerable consternation at your polling place, but no one ever said it would be easy to get our paper trail!

Just be sure not to clog up the polling place with your insistance on using paper. Don’t deprive other voters of their opportunity while you quietly insist that you can use the ballots that are right there within reach.

And consider two caveats:

One–At the close of voting your paper ballot may be copied into the touchscreen terminal anyway. The touchscreen is their adding machine and record keeper of choice. They may be better organized if they get all the votes on the same counter.

Don’t despair. You will have made your point.

Two–If you are the only obstreperous voter who demands a verifiable voting method, your votes will become known to the pollworkers who enter your ballot into the touchscreen at 9 pm election night. If you plan to vote for any corrupt, curmudgeonly, torture-condoning candidates, you may not want it to be revealed in this way.

But if you are like me, having stickers on your car and signs in your yard, and planning to vote only for the lesser of two evils or for visionary, good government candidates, then why worry if the pollworkers know what you have done?

THIS IS A TREMENDOUS STEP FORWARD, imho. It’s not the holy grail of a completely audited election, of course. It is a baseline. Every Iowan can now have a paper trail for his/her own ballot. And everyone who creates that trail sends a message to the legislature and the local auditor about how we want elections to be conducted.

Be sure to do it if you live in the the pink counties on this map.