VOTING SECURITY FOR TRUTH CAMPAIGN ELECTIONS

[Keith Mothersson]

Dear Ian Crane (Chair) and Annie Machon (Sec), [copied to Ian neal and Alan Firminger]
and through you to the whole Committee of the British and Irish 9/11 Truth Campaign - please could you FW Annie,

At the Brixton Mass it was reported that we would need to have an election to fill Belinda's place on the committee. I expressed my concern about the security of online or e-mail voting and Ian Crane suggested that I should raise the matter on the Forum, which I am now doing.

A) We of all people should be aware that the Powers that Be are likely to take a keen interest in how our fledgling movement proceeds. Also that they should be assumed to have the resources to be able to change the outcome of inadequately secure elections.

B) At the first national conference we had a group looking into this problem and Alan Firminger presented his original system at some length, which met with approval by all of us who listened to him. This approval was reported back to the plenary meeeting and led to the plenary asking Alan to help us run elections in the future, and Alan agreeing.

C) Now that the need for a distance election has occurred - and having checked that Alan is still willing, indeed keen, to act in this way - I would like to propose that we/you (the Campaign Committee) formally ask Alan to run this election with and for us.

D) Alan's system combines internet voting (mainly) with elaborate precautions concerning the postal provision of voter ID and randomised codes for each vote unique to that voter id number. After the vote these anonymised data are published on the web, allowing everyone to check that their vote wasn't 'flipped' in cyberspace.

E) Alan's system is described quite fully here, with worked examples of the forms needed at each stage.
http://mysite.freeserve.com/veryboring/index.html

F) Alan writes:
There must be a panel of tellers who can supervise me, observe sealing of the record and decide where it goes. The work can be done on any MS PC with a database installed. Since I would have technical command it would be a good idea if I were not a teller. I could be clerk to the tellers if they wish, I can see all the decisions that have to be made at the start.

I imagine Mike Harries would be game as a teller. I don't know who else. Committee members may be tellers provided that they do not stand for the election.

G) Alan also outlined some steps to get the ball rolling:
1 proposal to go ahead with internet voting as described
2 understand that we will need stamped envelopes to send codes to every participant
3 appoint three tellers located near to or in London, preferably not including me
4 inform the panel
5 officially inform the electorate

H) Alan is very willing to answer any questions people may have, you can PM him or ask publicly on this forum.

G) If this pilot is a success then I think we could be modelling best practice and breaking new ground for other organisations too in the future? At all events I would be mortified if, having seen the NeoCons steal three elections in a row and Blair positioning the 'independent' Electoral Commission to help him introduce computerised and e-voting with almost no serious questions raised so far by the Electoral Reform Society, and constant use of unaudited non-transparent 'polls' on TV, radio, etc, etc ... we of all people should conduct our own elections in a tamper-friendly format. For me this is a matter of principle.

Best wishes,
keith

PS If anyone would like further info on computerised and internet Vote Theft issues, they are welcome to get in touch. I also have copies of a great dvd, Invisible ballots, with contributions from top computer, forensic and audit specialists in the US.

[Alan Firminger]

I have revised the techno page explaining how it can work and I have put up at a different address a working experimental page.
I will distribute the url of this privately to avoid interference.
Why does the committee not vote on these things ?
And why is the private forum not used for this sort of thing anymore ?

[Annie]

There have been some postings on this subject in the Constitution section of this forum, as well as in the Campaigning section.

Could people please cross-reference?