RTFA: http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/19/mom-ca…

Ohio is an election battleground state with perennial problems at the polls. So what have election officials in some precincts of the state been doing to keep their voting machines safe from tampering?

Taking the machines home with them and stashing them in their garages in the days before a big election…

After the 2004 presidential election, in which Ohio narrowly went to President Bush, some inspectors said they found signs of tampering in a number of precincts throughout the state.

Many local election officials who defend the “sleepover” practice say it makes it easier for them to transport the machines to polling sites, and that it allows them to keep an eye on the machines. But their critics call that nonsense, and argue that allowing people to take voting machines home with them — where they can access them at any time, and potentially hack into them — is the very definition of a security risk.

One of those critics is Ohio’s secretary of state, Jennifer Brunner, who has pointed to reports of poll workers casting ballots on machines in their homes. With Ohio expected to be another critical battleground state in November, Ms. Brunner issued a directive today that put a stop to the controversial practice.

“We want Ohio’s voters and the rest of the nation to see that we have prepared a transparent process of transporting voting equipment, ballots and supplies. That begins with security practices at boards of elections and polling places, documented chain of custody, and now procedures to make secure voting machine delivery.”

Wow. Jesus. Wow. Eight years later, two controversial presidential elections later, and still no real progress with voting machines.

From xkcd.com

Honestly, I’m thinking of boycotting voting until they fix these ridiculous problems.