Tag: voting | Page 5

The naked truth about vaxxing, voting and hacking

December 25, 2021/in Computer Security

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An old tale, written by Hans Christian Andersen, tells the story of a foolish emperor who is swindled into believing that he wears the finest garment, visible only to the wise. But he really strides naked on parade. Nobody risks telling him they see nothing until an innocent child blurts out, “The emperor has no clothes.”

That declaration has come to describe a clear fact that many people insistently get wrong. It means, “What you claim is obviously incorrect. Here is the naked truth.”

Here are some of today’s naked truths.

Vaccination against COVID-19 works. Maine provides the best possible proof of that truth.

The counties with the lowest new case rates have the highest percentage of vaccinated people. Most people in counties that are now nearly the worst in the country have chosen not to get shots. They risk their own health and may spread the virus to others.

The term “herd immunity” was meant to convey the idea that, when only a few people remain unvaxxed, the virus won’t easily spread. In the counties with high case rates, we can see the reverse — herd vulnerability.

Many possible explanations exist for abstaining, including partisan politics and misinformation, intentional or not. It may be a matter of mindset. Maine health expert Dr. Dora Anne Mills has said, “We very strongly need people from conservative circles — religious, faith and business — to really stand up and promote vaccination.”

There’s another truth that causes harm if ignored. Voting matters. And serious voting matters seriously.

On this truth, Maine takes comfort because it comes close to leading the country in voter participation. The U.S. in 2020 had a high rate of two-thirds of eligible voters; Maine had 76 percent participation. So what’s the problem?

Nationally, a third of eligible voters did not vote. Joe Biden received 51.3 percent of the votes cast. That means the president was elected by a third of the possible number of voters. While the high…

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Analysis | The Postal Service secretly built a risky mobile voting system – The Washington Post

December 14, 2021/in Mobile Security

Analysis | The Postal Service secretly built a risky mobile voting system The Washington Post

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St. Thomas move to ditch in-person voting in 2022 draws concern from local cybersecurity expert – London

November 19, 2021/in Internet Security

Voters in St. Thomas, Ont., won’t be heading to the polls in 2022 as they have in years past to cast their ballot in a municipal election.

City officials say they’re doing away with in-person paper ballots in favour of online and telephone voting next year in a bid to make the experience more convenient for residents and to spark greater voter turnout.

St. Thomas offered online voting during the 2018 election, but only in advanced polls alongside telephone voting. For election day itself, voters had to cast a ballot in person.

“It worked really, really well. The time people were online in order to do it (was) under five minutes. Our election day, we used the paper ballot and we heard a lot of people about long line-ups and not convenient polling stations,” said St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston of the 2018 election.

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“We’re going to make it so that you can vote from your La-Z-Boy or wherever you are in the world.”

Those without computer or telephone access will be directed to visit a Mobile Voter Help Centre where they cast a ballot and be assisted by municipal staff.

In the 2018 race, of the 10,259 recorded electors, 5,736, or roughly 56 per cent, voted in person, while 4,205, roughly 41 per cent, voted online, election data shows. Only 318 people chose to vote by phone.

In all, voter turnout was 36.09 per cent, with 80 per cent of those casting ballots recorded as being over the age of 45.

“During the pandemic, people have really concentrated on being able to use services like online purchasing or online ordering from restaurants. It’s become a far bigger part of our life, and we think we can make it part of the election process pretty smoothly,” Preston said.