The Secretary of State of California recently ordered a complete security audit of all electronic voting systems in use in the state of California. Despite some concerns about an unrealistic schedule, this appears to be more than security theater — one system was completely decertified, and several other systems (including Diebold and Sequoia systems) were decertified and conditionally re-certified given the imposition of additional security precautions. Bruce Schenier’s got a good roundup of related articles.

I’ve worked the past couple of California elections and have to say that the physical security, at least at the polling sites, is pretty good. Nonetheless, I was glad to see a paper audit tape used last time around.