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Securityweek has a look at the bits of HR1 with digital election security implications running:
The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has unveiled its first Bill: HR1, dubbed the 'For the People Act'. It has little chance of getting through the Republican-controlled Congress, and even less chance of being signed into law by President Trump.
Nevertheless, HR1 lays down a marker for current Democrat intentions; and it is likely that some of the potentially bi-partisan elements could be spun out into separate bills with a greater chance of progress.
One of these is likely to include the section on election security. This has been a major issue since the meddling by Russian-state hackers in the 2016 presidential election, and the subsequent realization on how easy it would be for interested parties (both foreign hackers and local activists) to influence election outcomes.
I'm all for secure and accountable elections but the feds are going to need to be careful and deliberate in what they mandate vs. what they place conditions for funding on. They do have significant authority as far as election laws go but their power is more deep than broad; most specifics are legally up to the states. Just because something is a good idea doesn't mean they currently have the legal authority necessary to do it.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday January 06 2019, @11:22PM (6 children)
That's why I am proposing that we make those ID more easily available, even free, if necessary. The lack of revenue collected can always be collected elsewhere, even something bullshit like taxes on plastic bags or straws or something. And to further lock down the voting system we need to have a sanity-check on social-security numbers -- motherfuckers shouldn't be able to use the number of a dead person to get privileges they shouldn't otherwise have.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday January 06 2019, @11:33PM (4 children)
That the US Federal and US States generally don't require one to possess ID is due to the NAZI-era requirement that everyone carry IDs that declare their religion.
You do _not_ need to give your ID to a cop unless you're operating a motor vehicle, however if you refuse he has the right to detain you for 72 hours so as to establish you identity.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 06 2019, @11:48PM (3 children)
Nowadays we simply require every coder to declare a coding language, because every coding language is its own religion. If you can code in a dozen languages, then you are a heretic to all coding religions. If you express the opinion that coding language does not matter because any coder should be able to pick up new languages as needed, you are an unemployable blasphemer against the holy law of coding.
Fuck MDC
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday January 07 2019, @12:04AM (2 children)
Because I started a language-agnostic business.
You could end your self-imposed torment in a heartbeat were you to somehow Solve The Prima Donna Problem. To Wit:
Fuck MDC
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 07 2019, @12:28AM (1 child)
Languages I coded in today: C and Python.
"Oh no!" scream the millennial yeast infections. "C is a slow old man lang! Python is performant sexy hotness! You can't use a C code and a Python code together! That's like not compatible! How are you even a coder??!"
Languages I might code in tomorrow: Java JavaScript Perl Ruby.
"Dude!" shout the millennial dick weeds. "JavaScript is the shit! We code everything in Node bro! Come see our office that looks just like a frat dorm! What the fuck you mean you don't use Node.js. Are you sure you a coder?"
Hey MDC. I remember entrepreneurial assholes like you back when I was in college. Always bragging about how they started their own business. Always bragging about how much money they were going to make someday. Always their businesses had zero revenue. Always they had grandiose claims about how they were somehow successful anyway. Always zero revenue.
You are a fraudulent pretend businessman with a fraudulent pretend business.
Fuck MDC
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday January 07 2019, @06:52AM
Otherwise I wouldn't have persisted with this particular line of business.
How's that Mobile App coming? You're into Javascript so perhaps you're _already_ working on a Mobile Website.
Fuck MDC
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Friday January 11 2019, @11:38PM
This. The hurdles put in place to gain an ID are the biggest objection to the proposed ID laws.
This past year I was required to renew my driver's license. Simple thing, no big deal right? OK, my bad for procrastinating, but three weeks before I was due to renew I opened the envelope to discover that rather than the usual process of renewing online in a few minutes I was required to renew in person.
That annoyance was made worse by the fact I was supposed to bring actual mailed copies of bills or such (by my reading of the wording on the site), so I rushed to change my accounts, which have been handled paperless online for years, to have actual mailed bills (the clerk later said that's what it says but they accept printed copies of e-bills thanks for not having that info on the site). Fortunately I received the last of them a couple days prior to my appointment.
Worse than that though, I discovered that my birth certificate, which had been perfectly valid and accepted by all for nearly 60 years, was no longer considered valid since it was issued by a hospital. I had to apply to the state where I was born for a state certified birth certificate. That, which I also got just two days before the appointment, for two copies (extra was $10 so I said why not) plus expedited shipping ($12) cost $49 in total. Not to mention the website was extremely balky and I had to restart the process several times. When the "certified" copies arrived, there was not a thing on them that was not on my original hospital issued certificate, it looked like the info was simply copied by hand.
To compound things, my vehicle had crapped out the weekend before the appointment, which I discovered was no longer in the centrally located office due to flooding from the past fall's hurricane, nor was in in the temporary administration offices less than a half mile from home, but in some godforsaken near deserted shopping mall located much further away. Had I had to take the local buses, with their transfers and such, I would have had to spend a couple hours getting there and a couple hours getting back. A taxi would have cost me nearly $50 each way. Fortunately my boss lent me her car for the process. I work nights, so at least I didn't have to take a day off work.
If you consider all that, just imagine a minimum wage worker having to go through all that. They could be stymied financially at any of several points, not the least of which would be having to take an unpaid day off work.