[kwlug-disc] Say No To Electronic Voting ...

[Mikalai Birukou]

>> With internet voting, it is far easier to switch every n-th vote to a 
>> certain candidate/party, and the
>> game is over. Because anonymity is required, one cannot trace a 
>> person to an actual vote. If this
>> data is recorded, then it can be leaked and people can be threatened 
>> or intimidated. In the absence
>> of that, switching votes is very easy.
>
> Electronic makes everything easier than paper. It makes it easier to 
> engage people. It makes people more active, which is good, cause 
> without demos there is no democracy.
>
> You are correct in that ideal anonymity is not possible. When I come 
> to court and say that my vote was counted incorrectly, I decide to 
> divulge my preferences. On another hand society also needs an anchor 
> against false claims about meddling. So, independent, offline 
> registrar with some trust might be a reasonable trade off.
>
And this brings us to Bolivia.

There were elections. Judging by later polls, majority of people did 
vote for Evo. But, some group inside started to say that elections were 
meddled with. O.A.S. issued statements that elections were meddled with. 
All news outlets repeated O.A.S. statements. But O.A.S. misled and/or 
lied. Here is a very soft language from NYT: 
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/07/world/americas/bolivia-election-evo-morales.html

"""

The authors of the new study said they were unable to replicate the 
O.A.S.’s findings using its likely techniques. They said a sudden change 
in the trend appeared only when they excluded results from the manually 
processed, late-reporting polling booths.
This suggests that the organization used an incorrect data set to reach 
its conclusion, the researchers said. The difference is significant: the 
1,500 excluded late-reporting booths account for the bulk of the final 
votes that the O.A.S. statistical analysis claims are suspicious.
Also, the academics said the organization used an inappropriate 
statistical method that artificially created the appearance of a break 
in the voting trend.

"""

In other words, a f&&&ing coup d'état in a 21-st century!

Even after massacres that meant to scare people, polls show majority 
wants to elect Evo's party.

Countries smaller than USA, Russia or China may really want to have an 
option for voters to verify, and to ensure that claims of fraud can be 
checked with strict evidence.

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