Originally posted these as comments, but felt it warranted its own journal because I'm tired of seeing conspiracy theories buzzing about when people should be focusing on GOTV.
First, I have a CompTIA Security+ certification and will soon pursue the CISSP, so I feel confident that I have a decent enough grasp on this issue to comment on it.
An important factor to consider when designing security is risk management. Consider how the following balance out: risk vs reward, chance of getting caught, how much risk is acceptable. Often you don't need to expend enormous amounts of money and effort to 100% secure a system if the risk of getting caught and punishment is simply too high (deterrence). This is one of those cases, much like voter fraud is technically possible but simply not worth the risk.
With the intense level of scrutiny in Ohio (Team Obama's army of lawyers will be watching this thing like hawks, no doubt), attempting such a massive election theft while under the spotlight is just too risky now.
Ohio SOS Jon Husted may be a rat bastard, but I doubt he or any underlings at ES&S allegedly involved in said "conspiracy" would fancy spending decades in federal prison for Mitt Romney's sake. Nor could everyone involved in the conspiracy be expected to keep it secret were it to come under investigation; someone would sing like a canary eventually. I'd even put deliberately (and provably) trying to throw a presidential election on the level of TREASON against the United States, the penalty for which can include the death penalty. No, they're much better off just trying to bend the rules in Romney's favor legally or semi-legally than outright attempt election theft. As long as they can arguably have plausible deniability, (e.g. "Oh, we didn't provide enough machines because we had no idea those Democratic areas would have such long lines!") then they can probably weasel their way out of getting indicted for election fraud. Engineering an unauthorized software patch that deletes Obama votes would be a direct, clear attempt at theft.
And nevermind the personal consequences of getting caught... Can you imagine what this would do to the GOP's already tarnished reputation? Is Mitt Romney really worth that much risk?
Note: I'm NOT saying we should just ignore this and pretend everything's fine and dandy. Obama's team has this covered. But we shouldn't spend our time freaking out about this when GOTV is far, far more helpful. As my favorite radio show host Randi Rhodes says every election, we need to overwhelm them at the polls. Only when it's close can their voter suppression techniques flip an election.
ALSO:
Remember that There's no guarantee that Romney would definitely win the election if he wins Ohio.. Imagine what would happen if these guys really did try to steal Ohio and succeeded, but then Obama won Florida or a modest collection of other swing states and squeaked past 270 EV's. Then they'd have President OBAMA's Department of Justice sticking an anal probe through their collective body cavities! That magnifies the risk even moreso.
Remember that these guys, above all things, are cowards. And Mitt simply isn't worth the risk.
Finally,
Remember that even if Romney wins, he wouldn't become President until late January 2013.
This gives Obama's Justice Department just over 2 months to get a court order to reveal the source code of this "patch" (if it indeed tries to steal the election).
The consequences, if proven true, would be unprecedented. It could very well destroy the GOP, no exaggeration intended. It would most definitely destroy ES&S and their entire chain of management.
Even if you were a die-hard Republican (or even a lowly programmer at ES&S) who hates Obama with every last fibre of your being, would you be willing to risk life in prison or the death penalty for the sake of Willard Mitt Romney?
I didn't think so.
Quit fretting and GOTV!