e-voting critic volunteers as election judge, surprising findings!

Avi Rubin is a computer scientist at Johns Hopkins, the senior member of the group that produced the report Analysis of an Electronic Voting System which is highly critical of security flaws in e-voting systems rolling out across the country.

He volunteered to serve as an election judge in his district yesterday, and his findings are at once uplifting and shocking.. uplifting in their confirmation of the integrity of the ordinary citizens that make our democracy work.. and shocking in e-voting's hypnotic sway over ordinary citizens and the huge potential for undetected abuse..  this is a MUST READ...

Perhaps the lightest moment in the day came when one voter standing at his machine asked in the most deadpan voice, "What do I do if it says it is rebooting?" Head judge Marie turned white, and Joy's mouth dropped. My heart started to beat quickly, when he laughed and said "just kidding." There was about a two second pause of silence followed by roaring laughter from everyone.

I found the reaction to that joke interesting. Everybody was willing to believe that this had happened, and yet when it became clear that it didn't, we all felt relief. I'm sure that the other judges would have claimed that this was impossible, and yet, for a brief instant, they all thought it had happened.