Online election tarnished by fraud

According to The Independent, fake votes made their way into the Paris mayoral race. Reporters found it easy to vote under various names, and even voted more than once using the same credit card and computer. One reporter voted five times, once using the name Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president.

The online election, originally touted as “fraud proof” and “ultra secure”, has devoled into name-calling and confusion.

Here is the link to the story by the Independent:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/fake-votes-mar-frances-first-electronic-election-8641345.html

Those who advocate online voting have a poor understanding of what a public election is. The public has to be able not only to cast a vote, but to see and confirm that all votes are true.

If the public can’t verify that the announced winners are the true winners, legislation and decisions by those announced persons are not, then, authorized by the public. If, for example, taxes are levied by representatives, the taking of such taxes becomes nothing more than theft, if the public did not authorize the chosing of that representation.

We tend to see arguments against online voting focus on the concept of “security”, when the more insoluble problem is that of public transparency.

Originally published at Black Box Voting