How do you feel that the paper bill counter in your bank is closed source? It does not matter because it's trivial to verify. The counter says "here is a pack of one hundred ballots for candidate A," and if you're in doubt, you just count them again. While representatives from candidate A's and B's team are watching.
The difference is that I know the sum ahead of time and can object in the moment at the bank.
A vote recount and/or judicially called audit can take months to resolve. This can lead to a loss in confidence in the outcome and for political shenanigans (e.g. Bush v. Gore).
I feel far more confident in a system where the software is open source because it increases trust for free. As a citizen having the software be open source is only upside to me.
yongjik|4 months ago
philips|4 months ago
A vote recount and/or judicially called audit can take months to resolve. This can lead to a loss in confidence in the outcome and for political shenanigans (e.g. Bush v. Gore).
I feel far more confident in a system where the software is open source because it increases trust for free. As a citizen having the software be open source is only upside to me.
raincole|4 months ago
Verifying that requires more expertise than verifying the physical ballots themselves.