EFF and Vegas 2.0 proudly present Hack the Vote 2011, an election about and for hackers, to be held on a Diebold AccuVote TSx electronic voting machine. The objective is simple: the candidate with the most votes following the one-day election will be crowned the new "World's No. 1 Hacker." EFF and noted e-voting security expert Professor Alex Halderman and Joseph Lorenzo Hall have designed a contest we hope will ensure that the election is... creative, if nothing else. If candidates can be elected to statewide and even nationwide office based on the the tabulations generated by electronic voting machines, surely an election by and among the best hackers in the world will be fairly decided by the number of votes cast, right? Cast your vote for special Def Con ballot measures... or register for a chance to try to make the machine do what you want instead.

The Rules:
  1. Come to the Summit Party at Def Con for the official kick-off announcement: Thursday at 8:30pm - 4:00am, at the Rio Hotel & Casino ~ Pavilion 1 (3700 W. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV 89103). Follow twitter.com/EFFsummit for details.
  2. EFF's voting machine will be made available for voting by Def Con attendees all day Saturday, August 6, 2011. Vote as often as you like, but we ask for a donation to EFF each time you vote. Results will be announced at the closing ceremonies on Sunday, August 7, 2011. Several ballot measures will be listed for conference participants to vote on.
  3. Hackers who want to try their luck at making the machine do something a little... undemocratic... should register with EFF at their Def Con booth by 2:00 pm on Friday, August 5. We encourage you to form teams.
  4. Only hackers who wish to participate in the "Hack the Vote" contest will be included on the electronic ballot on the "World's No. 1 Hacker" ballot measure. The candidate who receives the most votes at the close of the election on Saturday will receive a pile 'o EFF and Def Con swag, along with bragging rights as the winner of this year's contest.
  5. Registered participants will each receive at least 30 minutes to "examine" the voting machine to be used in the Hack the Vote contest on Friday afternoon.
  6. No hardware hacks allowed (e.g., no motherboard soldering). If you are able to access various parts of the machine by (for example) opening locks, that's your own business.
  7. In addition to the prize for the candidate for the largest number of votes at the close of the election, the judges may award an additional prize for the most creative hack. Think "why is my voting machine playing a video game?"
  8. In the event that the electronic tally is not retrievable at the close of the election, the voter-verified paper record will be used for the official count.
  9. Want a head start? Here are some helpful links that may help get you on your way:

Contact hackthevote2011@eff.org -- and watch this space -- for more information.