- Wednesday, 25 November 2009
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Don't put an idea into Henry VIII's head. It's hard to get it out - Thomas Cromwell
Dutch ban voting machines
THE NETHERLANDS government has banned the use of electronic voting machines in future elections.
Voting privacy concerns due to the risk of electronic eavesdropping were cited to justify the ban. Dutch election officials will return to using paper ballots that the electorate marks by hand to count the votes in all elections.
In a statement released last Friday evening, the Dutch Ministry of Internal Affairs said, "Research indicates that a secure voting machine that is immune to the risks of eavesdropping can't be guaranteed. Developing new equipment furthermore requires a large investment, both financially and in terms of organization. The administration judges that this offers insufficient added value over voting by paper and pencil."
The government banned both electronic voting machines that store vote counts in memory and those that print out paper voting slips. A group of academic experts assigned to study voting machines concluded that "even with regular testing of each printer, it can't be guaranteed that all devices stay within the required emission limits" to prevent electronic eavesdropping.
The country will investigate the use of machines for counting paper ballots by conducting limited testing during future elections. µ
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Once again the Dutch demonstrate a strikingly rational and sensible attitude toward a major societal issue.
Electronic voting is not secure, so go back to paper until it is.
I wonder why the Dutch politicians are so capable of taking the decisions that matter. Is it because they are less prone to corruption ? Is it because there is less money involved ? Or is it because there is no big investor contributing millions to campaign funds ?
Could it be that big campaign funders are anti-democratic ?
Could it ?
I'm willing to bet the dutch 'leaders' only vote against voting machines because they might become tamper-proof, sooner than because they would be tamper-sensitive.
Not that it matters, the dutch people are politically naïve and uninformed and will allow anything to be done to them and they will still re-elect the people doing it, neo-americanism again.

I'll take that bet. Seems like easy money to me.

They'll vote against something, not because it's currently less than perfect, but because it could be perfect in the future.

I think If we look up retarded in the big book of words, that assessment would be listed. I also completely disagree with your opinion of the Dutch.

Electronic voting is a bad idea. In the US, ballot machines in mainly black areas were set to accept invalid votes, because it was certain they'd vote for one party. In the mainly white areas, the machines returned the incorrect card and let the voter try again.
I agree about the voting machines being insecure, it's been amply proven, but I simply don't buy that the dutch government does anything for smart or reasonable or pro-people reasons.
Even if I'm as dumb as you say I'm not THAT dumb to not see that 'I love techno'
All that legal marijuana is making them paranoid.