On DVD: Hacking Democracy

Directed by Simon Ardizzone and Russell Michaels

Starring: Bev Harris

What would documentary film fans do without the great people at Docurama? Docurama recently released the film Hacking Democracy on DVD. And, what this film reveals might shock you.

The Movie

Bev Harris, a grandmother living in Seattle, Washington, is surfing the internet one night. She happens upon the website for Diebold, a company that is the main manufacturer of electronic voting machines. However, Harris doesn’t just see the ordinary information on the website. She stumbles upon an unprotected section of the website that contains proprietary codes for the Diebold machines and GEMS program keys, which could help a person to unlock and manipulate the votes tabulated with the machine. Harris could not believe her eyes and sets forth on a journey to reveal this grave security risk.

Harris discovers that Diebold has legally claimed that there machines and technology was private intellectual property. By claiming this, the company has been able to prevent anyone from investigating or examining these machines, machines that have been used to tabulate nearly 50% of all votes counted in American elections.

Harris decides to take her information, information anyone could easily access on the Diebold website, to some computer professionals to see how easy it is to hack into the machines mainframe and alter votes. It is scarily easy for these hackers.

Through Harris’s research, she discovers that the “hack” that seems to be most commonly used is the memory card reset, which begins a candidate with a negative vote total. During the 2000 election, you might recall that some machines were calculating negative votes for Al Gore.

The filmmakers don’t only make claims that Democrats are the victim of the Diebold machines. They also bring forth Republican candidates that can make valid claims that the machines robbed them of votes as well.

Hacking Democracy is a thought provoking documentary that will have any American voter shaking their heads in disbelief. It is frightening to think that we as American’s have this amazing power, the power to vote, and machines, with some trickery utilized, can rob us of our power in a millisecond.

While the documentary is fascinating, it does not seem to have a real abundance of supporting evidence to back up all of its claims. This is a real weakness in the film, but there is enough concrete information provided that an investigation should be opened against Diebold.

Hacking Democracy is not a perfect film, but it is thought provoking and should inspire and motivate anyone who views it to research for themselves the mysterious happenings at Diebold.

7/10

The Video

Hacking Democracy is presented in the original full frame aspect ratio. It has the typical low budget appearance one would expect from a documentary film.

7/10

The Audio

Hacking Democracy is presented in Dolby Digital Mono. The dialogue is clear throughout. This is definitely not a ear-dazzling mix, but suits the film just fine.

7/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features

Hacking Democracy is presented in a standard amaray case with artwork appropriate for the film presented.

There are a few bonus features available on this release. Over 30 minutes of deleted scenes are offered for your viewing pleasure.

The original trailer and filmmaker’s biographies are also offered.

While the bonus material could not be described as plentiful, the ones offered compliment the film well.

6.5/10

Overall ( Not an Average) 7/10

Review

The Movie 7/10

The Video 7/10

The Audio 7/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 6.5/10