Mafia's 3G electoral fraud tactics
...From the "the only good vote is a vote you can sell" department... Cheers, RAH ------ <http://www.reuters.co.uk/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=2752458&basket=UK_INTNEWS> Reuters Mafia's 3G electoral fraud tactics Last Updated: 15 May 2003 21:18 BST ROME (Reuters) - Italy's mafia organisations have come up with a use for third-generation mobile phones that makers of the gadgets probably did not have in mind -- vote-rigging. Here's the idea: you promise a voter 50 euros (31 pounds) to cast their ballot for your candidate, send them into the booth with a 3G phone, they send a picture via the phone proving that they have voted as instructed and then they get the cash. But Italian authorities have caught onto the plan and pledged to stop it going ahead in regional elections on May 25. "Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu has taken immediate measures to stave off any attempt to violate the secrecy of the vote, with particular reference to the use of 3G phones in polling stations," a ministry statement said. It did not specify what the measures were. Mafia organisations in parts of Italy have traditionally tried to influence the outcome of elections to get favours in return once their candidates are in post. In one infamous instance of postwar vote-rigging, mafiosi handed impoverished voters a left shoe when they went to vote, promising the right shoe if they voted as instructed. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to majordomo@metzdowd.com
Just goes to show how far ahead some countries are... such crude measures as monitoring the voting booth (and the voting booth itself) are no longer necessary, thanks to E-Voting. Through the use of violence or threats, force the voter to use his mobile-phone to E-Vote the way you want. Dispense with inconvenient and costly voter payments! For extra points, set up a cellphone eavesdropping system in your voting district, to assure people are voting your way. That way your enforcement staff can concentrate on remediation rather than direct physical encouragement. Of course, things like vote-rigging would never, ever happen in a civilized country. Much less vote-rigging based on threats and violence. And certainly never in the USA <cough> R. A. Hettinga wrote:
...From the "the only good vote is a vote you can sell" department...
Cheers, RAH ------
Reuters
Mafia's 3G electoral fraud tactics
Last Updated: 15 May 2003 21:18 BST
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's mafia organisations have come up with a use for third-generation mobile phones that makers of the gadgets probably did not have in mind -- vote-rigging.
Here's the idea: you promise a voter 50 euros (31 pounds) to cast their ballot for your candidate, send them into the booth with a 3G phone, they send a picture via the phone proving that they have voted as instructed and then they get the cash.
But Italian authorities have caught onto the plan and pledged to stop it going ahead in regional elections on May 25.
"Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu has taken immediate measures to stave off any attempt to violate the secrecy of the vote, with particular reference to the use of 3G phones in polling stations," a ministry statement said.
It did not specify what the measures were.
Mafia organisations in parts of Italy have traditionally tried to influence the outcome of elections to get favours in return once their candidates are in post.
In one infamous instance of postwar vote-rigging, mafiosi handed impoverished voters a left shoe when they went to vote, promising the right shoe if they voted as instructed.
participants (2)
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Malcolm Carlock -
R. A. Hettinga