Been a lotta talk on the 'Net and on the tube about Russians hacking the 2016 election, and what we oughta do about it. Step one is to dump the voting machines and go back to paper ballots. A voting machine is just a desktop computer running a special ballot program. It is subject to all the hacks that ordinary computers are subject to, which is too damn many.
Step two is safeguarding the voter lists. You know those lists they have at the polls and upon which they check off your name as you vote. And if your name isn't on the list you either have to do some extra paperwork, or you don't get to vote. Suppose the other side had used a program to go thru the voter's list and erase 10% of your party's voters? Or I can think of worse.
Best security would be to go back to keeping the voter's list with pen and ink. Barring that, if you just gotta have the list on computer, best would be not to use Windows. Windows is totally and irredeemably security compromised. It's Swiss cheese, fulla holes. Use a Mac, use Linux, use anything except Windows. Only allow one computer for updating the list, printing it out, and making backups. Keep that machine in a locked room to which only a very few have a key. DO NOT allow that machine to connect to any other machine, the public internet, the telephone network, anything. Do not allow anyone to insert flash drives, floppy disks, CD's or other media into the machine. Periodically do a backup of the voter list to CD-ROM. Store one copy of the backup CD-ROM off site so it will be available in the event of fire or flood at Town Hall. Periodically compare the master voter's list on the computer to the most recent backup and decide if the changes, and the amount of change is reasonable.
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