Pre-Nov 4th e-voting roundup

October 31, 2008 6:41 pm in voting, Related Articles

Comment and speculation around the US voting system is quickly reaching fever pitch. I really fear for election day, I hope we don't see any disasters which undermine the result or even prevent it being declared. However I fear that is what we will indeed see. Regardless everyone needs to work in a spirit of openness to make sure all problems are understood and resolved in the fairest way possible. Such an attitude isn't on show in my first link...

• Russell Michaels and Simon Ardizzone, the producers/directors of "Hacking Democracy" have produced an excellent new, short documentary highlighing some more of the serious problems in the US electoral system, particularly in Florida. For the first time they show how any election administrator can manually alter the vote in the Premier (aka Diebold) GEMS system. Part 1 and Part 2 are on YouTube. I believe a Hacking Democracy DVD is now available too.

• There is now an iPhone application 'Twitter VoteReport' to help you report problems on polling day. It's a great idea to increase the number and consistency of reports. via TUAW

• I recently participated in a short radio interview for PRI's "The World" on e-voting around the world. You can listen online here

• I've found Barack Obama's online campaigning insprirational, though I certainly don't agree with all of his politics, there's plenty to admire. His story is a remarkable one, as is his campaign's purchase of air time for a 30 minute television programme on the major US networks. Unimaginable for us Europeans really. You can watch what the money went on via YouTube.

• It wasn't a surprise, but Michael Wills MP has confirmed that there wil be no e-voting in the UK next year. My TheyWorkForYou alerts flagged this up as effectively as ever, and ORG have blogged it.

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Nuclear: No kind of solution

October 23, 2008 11:41 pm in notes from JK

This week I was delighted to read a new argument against an expansion in the use of nuclear powe. I've long opposed nuclear power and certainly am very much against the so called 'pragmatism' of expanding atomic energy to help meet climate change targets. The arguments against have always been clear-cut in my mind:

• Nuclear power is hugely expensive, and is usually subsidised at eye watering tax-payer expense. Even with such subsidies there is debate whether it is truly price competitive if one factors in all the costs of extracting, transporting, processing and disposing of the uranium used in nuclear power stations.

• Nuclear waste is an unsolved problem, most countries are using temporary facilities whilst a laborious process of trying to find a place to leave the waste long enough to let it stop being dangerously radioactive. This is a growing problem that will hang over generations to come. Why create such a risk for our children's children?

• Nuclear power as a whole is a safety and health risk to workers and us, the public. Furthermore continued development and production of nuclear power technologies only serve to further the chances of a proliferation in nuclear weapons.

• Nuclear power stations take a long time to build and come online. They perpetuate the centralised, long distance transmission model of electrical grids which waste huge amounts of energy through transport. They are the wrong type of approach to solve our clean energy needs and we could never get enough online in time to significantly reduce global emissions anyway.

• Uranium is not a renewable fuel. It's dug out of the ground... Why depend on a fuel like that when the sun, wind and waves are free and never ending?

Further to this final point, Daniel Botkin wrote "The limits of nuclear power" a comment piece in the International Herald Tribune. In it he argues that if we could build enough nuclear power stations to replace all fossil fuels then on known available uranium reserves we would run out in less than five years. Including all known sources of uranium, even those deemed not viable for mining, Botkin says we would run out in 29 years.

To a more realistic scenario, increasing nuclear energy yearly so that by 2050 50% of world energy was nuclear. Botkin calculates that uranium would run out in 2019 (using available reserves figure) or 2038 (all known uranium).

He also notes that 'breeder' reactors, which generate more fuel than they use, are not viable yet and are dangerous.

So even if we run headlong to nuclear power it barely gives us any breathing room. And there are carbon costs in the construction of these behemoth stations. Much better to stick to renewables which can generate local electricity without the costs and inefficiences of distribution.

Nuclear power still isn't, and never has been, any kind of answer.

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E-voting update, October 08

October 13, 2008 9:03 am in voting, Related Articles

• I recently had the priviledge of being invited to participate in PressTV's Cinepolitics programme reviewing the US e-voting film, 'Uncounted'. The film struggles to make the pieces fit together, though there are some strong moments. If you haven't seen it then I would hands-down recommend 'Hacking Democracy' over 'Uncounted'. You can view the episode of Cinepolitics below:

• Elections Canada, the Canadian Federal Election management department, have announced a five year strategy to boost turnout with a focus on youth engagement. Yes, that means online registration and voting. Richard Akerman is doing sterling work covering this developing issue and raising its profile over on his blog Paper Vote Canada. It's so disappointing that my other home country is pursuing this path also.

• Designing a better ballot: 37Signals link up to some good work being done on improving the design of ballot papers in North America. The link to the Quebecois design is particularly interesting.

• Diebold (now 'Premier') have now admitted that a logic error in their source was responsible for hundreds of lost votes in Ohio's primary elections this March. Originally they blamed anti-virus software for the problem! Another example of the poor quality of their systems and interesting relationship with the truth.

• Finishing on a lighter note, if you haven't seen it this clip of Homer trying to vote for Obama is spot on.

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