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Civic Organization Hacks Into Chicago Voter Database

The Illinois Ballot Integrity Project has successfully hacked into the 1.35 million-Chicago voter database, it was announced last week. Social security numbers, birthdates, and other information was revealed, and the hackers say they could easily change voters' addresses or change someone's voting status from active to inactive. Hackers could also change the location of voters' polling places.

Several weeks ago, the IBIP reported the issue to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, who did nothing, though they evidently want you to know that Your Vote Counts.

Meanwhile, in Maryland, the Diebold touchscreen source code went missing. According to The Washington Post:

Cheryl C. Kagan, a former Democratic delegate who has long questioned the security of electronic voting systems, said the disks were delivered anonymously to her office in Olney on Tuesday and that the FBI contacted her yesterday. The package contained an unsigned letter critical of Maryland State Board of Elections Administrator Linda H. Lamone that said the disks were "right from SBE" and had been "accidentally picked up."

According to Diebold officials, the stolen software is no longer being used in Maryland, with the exception of "a limited number of jurisdictions," and that it is protected by encryption. Diebold officials have also dismissed the Princeton study which showed that a program created by the Princeton researchers could alter votes that had been cast via Diebold machines.

Posted by Diane E. Dees on 10/24/06 at 9:30 AM | E-mail | Print | Digg | de.licio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Yahoo! MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Netscape | Google |