There was a story on Blacklock’s Reporter yesterday morning that used Access to Information documents to suppose that Elections Canada was moving ahead with electronic voting, despite the fact that the electoral reform committee hadn’t even made any recommendations around it. As it turns out, that’s not what they were up to, but it nevertheless touched off a discussion over Twitter about reasons why electronic voting is still a bad idea, and why never is still too soon to even start contemplating it.
We have no plans to introduce electronic/online voting. We are seeking info on managing voters list & poll book electronically
— Elections Canada (@ElectionsCan_E) August 15, 2016
A profoundly bad idea. You won't find support for this among people with a deep understanding of computer security.
— Jonathan Skrimshire (@jskrimshire) August 15, 2016
There remain very real security issues with online voting, mostly on the client side of the transaction.
— Jonathan Skrimshire (@jskrimshire) August 15, 2016
Online banking is workable because the client can later look at a record and say "Hey! I didn't make that transaction!".
— Jonathan Skrimshire (@jskrimshire) August 15, 2016
So even if the system is defrauded, the fraudulent action can be detected and reported.
— Jonathan Skrimshire (@jskrimshire) August 15, 2016
There remain very real security issues with online voting, mostly on the client side of the transaction.
— Jonathan Skrimshire (@jskrimshire) August 15, 2016
But the basic issue is the inability to implement a system that is simultaneously secure, anonymous, and verifiable.
— Jonathan Skrimshire (@jskrimshire) August 15, 2016