| Did you vote in the 2008 election? If so, how safe do | | | | however, questioned the state's security measures. |
| you think your vote was? That was the question | | | | "Those tamper-proof seals can be faked; it's not that |
| posed of a recent ABC news segment titled "How | | | | difficult." What's more, New Jersey was "just one of a |
| Safe Is Your Vote?" While Barack Obama beat out | | | | handful of states ... [that used] ... the paperless, |
| John McCain in the presidential race by a pretty | | | | electronic voting machines on Tuesday." |
| resounding margin, other contests across the nation | | | | When it comes to matters like eating, drinking and |
| proved a lot closer, where every vote counted. As a | | | | even voting, where one can never be too safe, |
| result, voter fraud was on the minds of many as they | | | | reputable tamper evident protection can go a long |
| entered and exited the polling booths. | | | | way toward eliciting peace of mind. A leading |
| A team of Princeton computer scientists recently | | | | manufacturer, converter and printer of heat shrink |
| examined voting procedures in New Jersey and came | | | | PVC, PET-G, OPS & EarthFirst PLA films |
| to the conclusion that in this day and age of electronic | | | | provides that peace of mind not just on Election Day, |
| voting machines, votes are "not that safe" and are far | | | | but every day of the year. Specializing in vibrantly |
| too susceptible to fraud. "All you need is 10 minutes of | | | | printed shrink labels, heat shrink bands used for |
| unsupervised access to a voting machine to open it up | | | | tamper-evidence and shrink sleeves for promotional |
| and stick in a vote stealing program," pointed out one | | | | multipacks and other shrink products, such a company |
| of the computer scientists involved in the investigation. | | | | adds to consumer - and voter - confidence. |
| "In 5 seconds he was able to pick the lock on a | | | | Tamper-evident shrink bands can be cut to the |
| machine. In less than 10 minutes, the professor | | | | customer's exact specifications. Other tamper-evident |
| demonstrated how he was able to unscrew the back | | | | options include tubing in clear and white, which is printed |
| panel and replace the computer chip with one he | | | | with "Sealed For Your Protection." Such tubing is |
| programmed to steal votes." | | | | offered in rolls for use on automatic equipment like |
| So what did the state of New Jersey do about its | | | | electronic voting machines. Tubing can also be cut to |
| voter fraud susceptibility? New Jersey's Director of | | | | order, and single vertical perforations can be added. |
| Elections, Robert Giles, said, "Every one of the ten | | | | Whether the New Jersey Board of Elections had such |
| thousand voting machines used on election night will | | | | protective measures in place prior to residents casting |
| have layers of tamper-proof security. We have metal | | | | their 2008 ballots remains up in the air. However, such |
| cable seals. We have security screw caps, tamper | | | | tamper-evident security initiatives are definitely |
| evident tape." | | | | something the state - and all states - should look into |
| The computer scientist who was able to hack in, | | | | to assure the validity of every single vote that is cast. |