Hack the Vote? Not in Broward

As if Florida didn't have enough election troubles, officials in Broward County had to scramble earlier this month to quash rumors that the county was going to use high school students to breach the security of election computers in a mock election.

The idea surfaced at a meeting of the Broward County Commission Aug. 16, where County Commission Chairman John Rodstrom suggested that computer-savvy kids might get to hack their way into the election system, reported the Associated Press.

"That is not going to happen," Bob Cantrell, director of intergovernmental affairs for the Broward Supervisor of Elections, told Washington Technology.

The 10-member Broward County Commission will decide by Oct. 1 whether to go with touch-screen or optical-scan machines.

Cantrell said the office of the Broward Supervisor of Elections was getting media inquiries from as far away as New York and Washington. But those weren't the only calls it was getting.

"I had kids calling me, asking 'Can I come look at your machines and see if I can hack them?' " he said in disbelief.