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back to article Interview: Michael Cordover, voteware freedom-of-information crusader

A barrister has offered pro bono assistance to Michael Cordover, the Hobart Solicitor seeking the source code to the EasyCount software used by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to count votes in the nation's senate elections. Cordover first sought the source code last year because, as he told The Register, “I have …

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  1. Fluffy Bunny
    Angel

    What a troublemaker

    This guy is such a troublemaker, it's easy to see why the AEC doesn't want to deal with him. Although there are better ways to deal with him. For instance, give him what he asks for. Less any material that is commercially sensitive, has national security implications, or was lost in the Queanbean flood of 2008.

    The complete list of what he would get is here...

    3 3 Reply
    1. LaeMing
      Reply Icon
      Happy

      Re: What a troublemaker

      Downvoters may have missed the more obscure form of Aussie sarcasm there!

      0 0 Reply
  2. Big-nosed Pengie

    Give that man a medal.

    2 0 Reply
  3. Frank Oz

    Without trust ...

    ... We would sink into anarchy.

    The AEC seems to forget that. You'd think, after the recent WA debacle, that it would be uppermost on their collective minds ... but the AEC seems to think that 'it's all OK now, the electorate trusts us, the politicians trusts us ... she's apples.'

    Wrong. Trust is something you build and reinforce constantly.

    And I'd like you to imagine what happened in Republican governed Florida to Al Gore, and in subsequent elections in the same state, when their electronic voting machines proved to be less than fair and correct in registering the results and calculating the vote.

    Now imagine that happened to the AEC ... following on the disasters that have occurred with the manual system in a number of electorates of late. And if public trust in the AEC evaporates, so does trust in the election results ... and I'll leave you to imagine what that could do in the increasingly fractious and politically divided country that Australia has become over the last 10 years.

    The smart move by the AEC would be to release the code for review ... the stupid move would be to withhold it. Because if they did, and if mistakes and errors, or, even worse bias and corrupted process, were subsequently proved or eve just suspected in the electronic electoral process ... I doubt the AEC would survive.

    3 0 Reply
    1. david 12 Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Without trust ...

      >Florida ... when their electronic voting machines proved

      I guess you're refering to Florida, when their manual-mechanical voting machines proved to be less than fair and correct.

      Or perhaps you meant to refer to some little-known electronic voting machine in Florida, and the reference to "Al Gore" just crept in there because you got your dates, politics, and technology mixed up.

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