November 15, 2004 A free monthly newsletter providing summaries,
analyses, insights, and commentaries on security: computer and
otherwise. For back issues, or to subscribe, visit
<http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram.html>. Or you can read this
issue on the web at <http://www.schneier.com/crypto-
gram-0411.html>. Schneier also publishes these same essays in
his blog: <http://www.schneier.com/blog>. An RSS feed is
available. In this issue: Four years after the Florida debacle
of 2000 and two years after Congress passed the Help America
Vote Act, voting problems are again in the news: confusing
ballots, malfunctioning voting machines, problems over who's
registered and who isn't. All this brings up a basic question:
Why is it so hard to run an election? A fundamental requirement
for a democratic election is a secret ballot, and that's the
first reason. Computers regularly handle multimillion-dollar
financial transactions, but much of their security comes from
the ability to audit the transactions after the fact a