Matt Yglesias

23 Responses to “Hacking the Vote”

1. James Gary Says:
   November 4th, 2008 at 7:51 am

   Election? Today? There’s an election? Why didn’t someone tell me?

2. teknozen Says:
   November 4th, 2008 at 8:11 am

   It gets weirder and scarier. Somehow, a group gained access to the Colorado Obama campaign’s entire volunteer list for poll watchers, etc., and called them all not to bother to report because things were going so well.

   Disturbing news to start the day, no?

3. Bondo Says:
   November 4th, 2008 at 8:24 am

   For those interested in state government races and ballot initiatives, I highly recommend the National Conference of State Legislature’s StateVote 2008 site.

4. right Says:
   November 4th, 2008 at 8:30 am

   So who should I vote for?

5. Steve LaBonne Says:
   November 4th, 2008 at 9:25 am

   Suffice it to say that Election Day is TODAY and I’m off to vote

   How primitive. I voted (in Ohio) by mail a month ago.

   Seriously, I wish people in all 50 states had at least the option to do that.

6. Shaunna Says:
   November 4th, 2008 at 9:29 am

   It’s true. I’m one of the students who received the emails. Could not believe it! But yes, the Provost was very quick to correct it and made very clear that election day is today. VOTE OBAMA!

7. bbgunn Says:
   November 4th, 2008 at 9:42 am

   My wife and I arrived at our polling place at 5:50AM CST to join the 200 or more people already ahead of us in line. I was impressed to see so many young people in line ahead of us and behind us. I was also encouraged for our republic to see a racially and culturally diverse crowd.

   The poll workers handed us our ballots at 6:40AM and we completed our voting around 6:45AM, and when we left, the line appeared to have grown to about 300.

8. Beau Says:
   November 4th, 2008 at 9:53 am

   SMS networks were hacked in Malaysia last year to tell people that a major protest event had been postponed as well. These were presented as if they came from an opposition political party. This stuff is not secure. We need to be aware that it can happen here, especially as SMS becomes more prevalent.

9. DJ Says:
   November 4th, 2008 at 10:08 am

   Suffice it to say that Election Day is TODAY

   HE DID IT!!! Accurate information conveyed without completely screwing up its meaning with typos. Not even a mildly confusing “Election was TODAY”.

10. rea Says:
    November 4th, 2008 at 10:33 am

    HE DID IT!!! Accurate information conveyed without completely screwing up its meaning with typos

    Easy for you to say that today, DJ–but how will you feel about Matt’s post tomorrow?

11. Njorl Says:
    November 4th, 2008 at 10:58 am

    How primitive. I voted (in Ohio) by mail a month ago.

    Seriously, I wish people in all 50 states had at least the option to do that.

    It is really crazy this year. I live in Montgomery Co. MD, just outside DC. We have a lot of polling places that are generally well run. I’ve never had more than a 10 minute wait to vote. My wife goes to the polls right before they open, while I stay home with the kids, then I vote when she gets home, then go to work.

    My wife had a 2 hour wait this morning, and when I got to the polls the line was even longer. From the length of the line, and the rate it was moving, it looked like more than a three hour wait.

    I plan to take the afternoon off in the hope that the line will be shorter in the middle of the day.

12. Meaghan Says:
    November 4th, 2008 at 11:01 am

    Yup! I’m a staff member at GMU and we received the following e-mail:

    To the Mason Community:

    Please note that election day has been moved to November 5th. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

    Peter N. Stearns
    Provost

    This morning, he followed up with this:

    Dear Colleagues,

    It has come to my attention early this morning that a message was hacked into the system fraudulently stating that election day has been moved. I am sure everybody realizes this is a hoax, it is also a serious offense and we are looking into it. Please be reminded that election day is today, November 4th.

    Peter N. Stearns
    Provost

13. jackson Says:
    November 4th, 2008 at 11:03 am

    For those who are interested, here are the relevant Mason messages (I’m a grad student at Mason):

    First, the fake one (I got it at 1:16am this morning):

    “To the Mason Community:

    Please note that election day has been moved to November 5th. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

    Peter N. Stearns
    Provost”

    And the Provost’s two responses (one of which, believe it or not, I got before the fake one, and the other at about 8 this morning):

    “To the Mason Community:

    I hear some troubling rumors, so here are a couple of facts: 1. The
    election is Nov. 4, for all political parties. The notion that one party
    votes Nov. 5 is UNTRUE. 2. It is also UNTRUE that any student
    jeopardizes financial aid by voting.

    Peter N. Stearns
    Provost”

    And second (this was specifically to profs, grad assistants, etc.):

    “Dear Colleagues,

    It has come to my attention early this morning that a message was hacked
    into the system fraudulently stating that election day has been moved.
    I am sure everybody realizes this is a hoax, it is also a serious
    offense and we are looking into it. Please be reminded that election
    day is today, November 4th.

    Peter N. Stearns
    Provost”

    Nice job by the Provost and all involved for reacting quickly, and I hope they catch this asshole.

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