[Am-info] Voting the Microsoft Way

[Roy Bixler]

On Tue, Jul 15, 2003 at 09:26:26AM -0700, Mitch Stone wrote:
> http://www.accidentalexpert.com/blog/

I went to the 'serveusa.gov' Web site, clicked on their contact link
and asked them why they are requiring use of the Windows operating
system to vote and why alternative platforms are excluded.  They don't
require Internet Explorer because Netscape v. 6 is allowed and the
only other requirement they mention is SSL v. 3 support in the
browser.  Internet Explorer and Netscape are not the only browsers
that meet this requirement, so I wonder if the Windows requirement is
simply for lack of testing on other operating systems.  It would be
interesting to see if anyone over there cares to respond.

Also, one of my compadres recently e-mailed me the following links
which take on this topic from a different angle:

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00064.htm
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00065.htm

Apparently some government bodies are deploying these systems without
adequate thought given to possible problems electronic voting can
cause, such as falsifiability and lack of a good audit trail.  It's a
"brave new world."

-- 
Roy Bixler <rcb@bix.org>
Acid absorbs 47 times its weight in excess Reality.