Summit 2007: Day three, blog one: Why our voting system is corrupt and what we can do to fix it
by Julie Bryce
Hint: Think open.
A new word
I like new words. Today’s new word is “Systers”. Here, I’ll use it in a sentence: There are plenty of Systers at the Red Hat Summit this year. If you haven’t caught on by now, systers are female system administrators. And though I thought them a rarity, the diversity in both gender and ethnicity at the Summit this year has been the best in three years. I like seeing that because it indicates that the subjects presented at the Summit hold the interest of a wide audience–not just the narrow stereotype of the geeky sysadmin living in Linuxville, USA.
A new face
This week, I also met with Alan Dechert, president of the Open Voting Consortium. We filmed an interview with Dechert for Red Hat Magazine, but because this topic is so important to one of the basic tenets of democracy–the governed electing their governor–we wanted to include a few questions we discussed right away.
Think our current voting system is unhackable? Think again. Just like open source software helps technology masters build more beautiful systems because it gives them the code (and the power to modify it), open source voting offers citizens transparency. The voting system responsible for tabulating votes and deciding a winning candidate is open to all eyes, not just the “trusted” few. Machines can be tested by all parties, not just the ones in charge. This is not small stuff. And with a highly-contested presidential election looming next year, this conversation comes at an urgent time.
A new appreciation for Sara Jones
For three years now, Red Hat has hosted the Summit. And for the past three years, one person has borne the brunt of the responsibility and planning. She’s the first person people complain to and usually the last to get thanked. She is Sara Jones and she is Red Hat’s event planner extraordinaire. If you’re here in San Diego with us, be sure to find her and let her know you’ve enjoyed yourself. If you’re reading this from some other corner of the world and you’ve missed the 3rd annual Red Hat Summit, you’ll just have to come next year and see what I mean.
June 6th, 2007 at 2:30 am
Why “Syster”?
I get “Sy” because of “system”, but I dont get the rest of the word, unless it is a pun based on “sister”?
I am curious because “Syster” means sister in parts of Norway, and a good word for female system administrators would be a great addition to Norwegian. If a pun is good enough it might become a official word. (Norway is full of language geeks.)
June 6th, 2007 at 8:08 am
Hacking web sites or systems that store voter data is meaningless. Consider the last two presidential elections. Regardless of the popular vote, the electoral college can do whatever they want. In fact hacking or altering voter results would just give them more leeway to decide for you.