Sequoia Voting Systems: Difference between revisions
Sequoia 's threatening email and ref source |
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===Ed Felten legal threat controversy=== |
===Ed Felten legal threat controversy=== |
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In March 2008, Sequoia sent an e-mail threatening [[Princeton University]] professors [[Ed Felten]] and [[Andrew Appel]] with legal steps after New Jersey election officials have stated that they plan to send one or more Sequoia Advantage voting machines to the Princeton security researchers for analysis. Sequioa announced that they will "take appropriate steps to protect against any publication" of the behaviour of Sequoia software.<ref>{{cite web |
In March 2008, Sequoia sent an e-mail threatening [[Princeton University]] professors [[Ed Felten]] and [[Andrew Appel]] with legal steps after New Jersey election officials have stated that they plan to send one or more Sequoia Advantage voting machines to the Princeton security researchers for analysis. Sequoia voting systems web site has been hacked and subsequently taken down.The hack was originally discovered Ed Felten. Sequioa announced that they will "take appropriate steps to protect against any publication" of the behaviour of Sequoia software.<ref>{{cite web |
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|url=http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=1265 |
|url=http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=1265 |
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|title=Interesting e-mail by Sequoia |
|title=Interesting e-mail by Sequoia |
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Sequoia Voting Systems announced that its website became inaccessible on evening of March 20 due to unauthorized access. The "intrusive content" was removed as soon as they realized what had happened.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sequoia_Voting_Systems&action=edit§ion=5|title=Sequoia Voting Systems Admits To Hackers Attacking Their Website|publisher=eFluxMedia|author=Dee Chisamera|date=2008-03-21}}</ref> |
Sequoia Voting Systems announced that its website became inaccessible on evening of March 20 due to unauthorized access. The "intrusive content" was removed as soon as they realized what had happened.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sequoia_Voting_Systems&action=edit§ion=5|title=Sequoia Voting Systems Admits To Hackers Attacking Their Website|publisher=eFluxMedia|author=Dee Chisamera|date=2008-03-21}}</ref> |
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A copy of an threatening email [[Ed Felten]] received from Sequoia has been passed around on various mailing lists. Several people, including reporters, have asked him to confirm its authenticity. Since everyone seems to have read it already, He says yes, it is genuine. |
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'''Sender''': Smith, Ed [address redacted]@sequoiavote.com |
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* To: felten@cs.princeton.edu, appel@princeton.edu |
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* Subject: Sequoia Advantage voting machines from New Jersey |
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* Date: Fri, Mar 14, 2008 at 6:16 PM |
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* Dear Professors Felten and Appel: |
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As you have likely read in the news media, certain New Jersey election officials have stated that they plan to send to you one or more Sequoia Advantage voting machines for analysis. I want to make you aware that if the County does so, it violates their established Sequoia licensing Agreement for use of the voting system. Sequoia has also retained counsel to stop any infringement of our intellectual properties, including any non-compliant analysis. We will also take appropriate steps to protect against any publication of Sequoia software, its behavior, reports regarding same or any other infringement of our intellectual property. |
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Very truly yours, |
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Edwin Smith |
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VP, Compliance/Quality/Certification |
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Sequoia Voting Systems |
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[contact information and boilerplate redacted] |
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Due to this, Felten did not perform the assessment; however, as mentioned on News.com by Robert Vamosi, Sequoia appears to be feeling the pressure to perform an outside assessment |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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*[http://www.sequoiavote.com/ Company Website] |
*[http://www.sequoiavote.com/ Company Website] |
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*[http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=1265 Sequoia's threatening email to Ed Felten] |
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*[http://www.news.com/8301-10789_3-9899944-57.html?tag=cd.blog Sequoia Voting Systems site hacked] |
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*[http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=972 eVoting systems come under fire] |
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*[http://www.themoneytimes.com/articles/20080323/e_voting_vendor_sequoia_s_website_hacked-id-1019323.html E-Voting Vendor Sequoia’s Website Hacked] |
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*[http://www.smartmatic.com Smartmatic International] |
*[http://www.smartmatic.com Smartmatic International] |
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*[http://www.votingmachinesprocon.org/biosorg/sequoia.htm ProCon.org's Sequoia Profile] |
*[http://www.votingmachinesprocon.org/biosorg/sequoia.htm ProCon.org's Sequoia Profile] |
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Revision as of 21:19, 23 March 2008
Sequoia Voting Systems is a company based in California, and one of the largest providers of electronic voting systems in the US. Some of its main competitors are Premier Election Solutions (formerly Diebold Election Systems) and Election Systems & Software. Sequoia Voting Systems introduced the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in the US. [citation needed]
Sequoia has been involved with voting systems for more than 100 years, having invented, at the end of the 19th century, the voting lever machines that are still used today in some US jurisdictions. This firm is part of the Smartmatic family since March 8, 2005, when it was acquired. Three Venezuelan engineers, Antonio Mugica, Alfredo Anzola and Roger Piñate founded this company during the late 1990s, in order to provide comprehensive infrastructure for a successful implementation and management of device-networking applications, in both electoral and security branches.
Smartmatic products have achieved international acknowledgment from leading organizations in the world of technology, such as Microsoft's "Top-five packaged application partner of the year" in 2005[citation needed] and the "Industry finest" award, from the Securities Industry Association's[citation needed]. One of their vertical solutions is an extremely advanced[citation needed] voting system called SAES.
Controversies
Venezuelan 2004 presidential election
Sequoia claims to have the only fully secure and fully auditable voting technology in the world today. Some controversy has been brought onto them as their technology was used in a recall referendum for president Hugo Chavez in 2004. Chavez won by a healthy margin and the opposition cried fraud. However, reports of the OAS, the EU and the Carter Center validated the results after multiple audits.[1][2][3]
California decertification/recertification
On August 3, 2007, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen withdrew approval and granted conditional reapproval[4] to Sequoia Voting Systems optical scan and DRE voting machines after a "review of the voting machines certified for use in California in March 2007"[4] found "significant security weaknesses throughout the Sequoia system"[5] and "pervasive structural weaknesses"[5] which raise "serious questions as to whether the Sequoia software can be relied upon to protect the integrity of elections."[5]
"Hanging chads" controversy
In a 2007 investigative report by Dan Rather, Sequoia Voting Systems was implicated, by former employees, in a plot to push electronic voting machines by intentionally manufacturing poor quality paper ballots destined for West Palm Beach, FL in the 2000 presidential election. Former employees stated that the paper and manufacturing process for just the ballots destined for West Palm Beach were outside of normal specifications which caused all of the hanging chads and recount problems. The companies pressmen and quality control departments refused to sign off on the defective ballots forcing the plant manager to personally force the ballots through the manufacturing process.[6]
The New York Times reports that Florida is scheduled to replace all of its touch-screen-based voting machines by July 1, 2008, and that Sequoia has offered to buy them back for $1. However this offer has been refused.[7]
Ed Felten legal threat controversy
In March 2008, Sequoia sent an e-mail threatening Princeton University professors Ed Felten and Andrew Appel with legal steps after New Jersey election officials have stated that they plan to send one or more Sequoia Advantage voting machines to the Princeton security researchers for analysis. Sequoia voting systems web site has been hacked and subsequently taken down.The hack was originally discovered Ed Felten. Sequioa announced that they will "take appropriate steps to protect against any publication" of the behaviour of Sequoia software.[8] The threat has caused outrage on news and technology websites after Felten confirmed the veracity of rumors about the threats, with one technology website describing the threats as "worrisome" and "disgusting"[9] and Cory Doctorow stating that it is "hard to imagine a stupider legal threat"[10]. Sequoia Voting Systems announced that its website became inaccessible on evening of March 20 due to unauthorized access. The "intrusive content" was removed as soon as they realized what had happened.[11]
A copy of an threatening email Ed Felten received from Sequoia has been passed around on various mailing lists. Several people, including reporters, have asked him to confirm its authenticity. Since everyone seems to have read it already, He says yes, it is genuine.
Sender: Smith, Ed [address redacted]@sequoiavote.com
- To: felten@cs.princeton.edu, appel@princeton.edu
- Subject: Sequoia Advantage voting machines from New Jersey
- Date: Fri, Mar 14, 2008 at 6:16 PM
- Dear Professors Felten and Appel:
As you have likely read in the news media, certain New Jersey election officials have stated that they plan to send to you one or more Sequoia Advantage voting machines for analysis. I want to make you aware that if the County does so, it violates their established Sequoia licensing Agreement for use of the voting system. Sequoia has also retained counsel to stop any infringement of our intellectual properties, including any non-compliant analysis. We will also take appropriate steps to protect against any publication of Sequoia software, its behavior, reports regarding same or any other infringement of our intellectual property.
Very truly yours, Edwin Smith VP, Compliance/Quality/Certification Sequoia Voting Systems
[contact information and boilerplate redacted]
Due to this, Felten did not perform the assessment; however, as mentioned on News.com by Robert Vamosi, Sequoia appears to be feeling the pressure to perform an outside assessment
See also
References
- ^ http://www.cartercenter.org/documents/2021.pdf Carter Center Report
- ^ http://www.sap.oas.org/MOE/2003/venezuela/inf_08_15_04_spa.pdf OAS Report
- ^ http://www.eueomvenezuela.org/final_report.htm 2005 Venezuelan Parliamentary Elections
- ^ a b "Withdrawal of Approval of Sequoia Voting Systems, Inc., WinEDS v 3.1.012/AVC Edge/Insight/Optech 400-C DRE & Optical Scan Voting System and Conditional Re-approval of Use of Sequoia Voting Systems, Inc., WinEDS v 3.1.012/AVC Edge/Insight/Optech 400-C DRE & Optical Scan Voting System" (PDF). California Secretary of State. 2007-08-03. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
- ^ a b c Matt Blaze, Arel Cordero, Sophie Engle, Chris Karlof, Naveen Sastry, Micah Sherr, Till Stegers, Ka-Ping Yee (2007-07-20). "Source Code Review of the Sequoia Voting System" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Kim Zetter (2007-08-20). "Vendors - Sequoia Voting Systems Responsible for 2000 Presidential Debacle?". VoteTrustUSA.
- ^ Voting Machines Giving Florida New Headache, New York Times, 10/13/2007
- ^ Ed Felten (2008-03-17). "Interesting e-mail by Sequoia".
- ^ "E-Voting Firm Threatens Ed Felten If He Reviews Its E-Voting Machine". Techdirt. 2008-03-18.
- ^ Cory Doctorow (2008-03-17). "Sequoia Voting Systems threatens Felten's Princeton security research team". BoingBoing.
- ^ Dee Chisamera (2008-03-21). "Sequoia Voting Systems Admits To Hackers Attacking Their Website". eFluxMedia.