Show Me The Source Code Or Throw The Voting Machines Out!!!!!

[Leith]

118. I Used to Be a Government Programmer

Specifically a contractor with the states of Indiana and North Carolina.

There was never a thought or a question about source code or who it belonged to - the governments of the states of Indiana and North Carolina!

After those jobs ended, I worked for a company that made slot machines. Every machine in every jurisdiction HAS to submit the source code for every machine to the private testing lab (GLI is the largest one) or to jurisdictions that do their own testing (like New Jersey and Michigan). This rule applies even to the chairs that vibrate or have speakers in them, bill changers, ticket dispensers, overhead signs, and so on. Without source code, the item is not tested and not approved. Period, end of story.

When I first heard that the voting machine manufacturer refused to disclose the source code because of "proprietary reasons," it was dumbfounding! Haven't they ever heard of nondisclosure agreements? They work pretty well for every other branch of government (and private industry) that purchases or uses software.

For Diebold to whine about protecting the rights to their software is an empty complaint - and it doesn't just smack of corruption, underhandedness, and dishonesty, it screams it from the rooftops.