Sequoia Announces Published Source Code

Sequoia Voting Systems announced today that they will be moving towards a disclosed-source model in which they will soon begin publishing their source code.

I must say that the tone and language of the press release is gratifying, especially that they thought to say that the product is also open-data, which is critical for the goal of transparency of operation of a voting system. But perhaps the most satisfying is the about-face on security by obscurity. Sequoia’s VP of R&D, Eric D. Coomer, PhD, was quoted:

Security through obfuscation and secrecy is not security. Fully disclosed source code is the path to true transparency and confidence in the voting process for all involved.

I couldn’t agree more! Even though the product is still proprietary (disclosed-source not open-source), it’s nice to see a vendor come around to the idea that open is not weak, and indeed to have taken the leap to do R&D to make a product that they say was intended from the beginning to be disclosed.

— EJS