Linux news

2007 07 03

Plan for a Truly Open System for the Elections

Should proprietary IT get our vote?

My preference is for government to fund a number of universities to develop an open-source application, with perhaps some of the universities collaborating to develop it and the others to test it. The job of loading the application onto a suitable device and then delivering the systems to voting stations can be put out to tender. If the software is developed under the GPL then anyone in the world would be free to use it.

http://s5h.net/u?z9d5f2
Related: UK government launches open source CO2 calculatorUK government launches open source [GPL] CO2 calculator

Back in March the UK's Conservative Party vowed to encourage the adoption of open source adoption if elected at the next General Election.* Today the Labour Party did its bit by releasing the code behind its new carbon footprint calculator under the general public license.

http://s5h.net/u?z68f5
Findings of the Open Rights Group Election Observation Mission in Scotland and England

The Open Rights Group cannot express confidence in the results for areas observed. The Open Rights Group (ORG) believes that the problems observed at the English and Scottish elections in May 2007 raise serious concerns regarding the suitability of e-voting and e-counting technologies for statutory elections. E-voting is a ‘black box system', where the mechanisms for recording and tabulating the vote are hidden from the voter. This makes public scrutiny impossible, and leaves statutory elections open to error and fraud.

http://s5h.net/u?z0178
John Edwards supports "open source" for voting systems

John Edwards has become the first presidential candidate to support "open source code" for election systems.

http://s5h.net/u?zd2c33
France to chose president with help of electronic voting

"Technology should only be introduced in elections if there is transparency, accountability and public confidence," said Mitchell, whose organization has monitored thousands of elections around the world. "Technology must enhance democratic principles, not inhibit them."

http://s5h.net/u?za7b9
Microsoft does its usual lobbying and political manipulation... Microsoft Muscles the NYS Legislature

Microsoft's proposed change to state law would effectively render our current requirements for escrow and the ability for independent review of source code in the event of disputes completely meaningless - and with it the protections the public fought so hard for.

http://s5h.net/u?z6abd