1. Diebold voting machines are insecure because they are easily hackable with the right knowledge and tools. Diebold voting machines probably do not use a special memory card. Also, a person does not need special tools to access the place where the memory card is kept. Anyone with a lock-picking kit or screw-driver could easily obtain access to it. Once a hacker has access to the memory card slot, they can take out the Diebold memory card and insert their own. Their memory card probably contains malicious software that help influence the votes the way they want them to, without any apparent abuse. It takes less then a minute to install their software, which loads automatically when the machine is turned on. They then remove their memory card and replace the Diebold one. What concerns people is that if a election voter were to run a test to see if there was any malicious software, they would be unable to detect anything wrong.
   

One a person casts their vote, they leave and once the voting is done, a worker compiles the data on the memory card and turns it into the appropriate place. It's not like the people who vote wait in the place until voting is finished to make sure the machine is correct. The general public shares a terrible misconception that if a machine adds up the numbers, then the total must be correct.

2. If I was placed in charge of voting, I would take the ballets old school, and make them all on paper. It would be a lot easier, in my opinion, to keep track of ballets, then trust a machine to do the counting, especially when there are so many ways to hack. The only problem then would be the counting of the votes. Although this process would take longer, I feel that to have an accurate outcome, this would be the best way. I would completely take machines out of the equation, so their was no chance of accidental lost ballets, or eaten ballets by the computer. To make sure there wasn't any funny business while counting the ballets, I would hire people completely neutral to the election. I would make sure they had no hidden agenda. One suggestion is to hire teen-agers to count the ballets, and possibly someone to check the counting. Of course, may kids are influenced politcally by their parents, so they may or may not be neutral. There is always the possibility of teaching dogs and cats to count ballets, however they may not be the best choice because they are spooked easily by numbers. (Just kidding).
Another idea is to make the ballets somewhat like a scantron. Those work great for multiple choice tests in high school. You have people fill in the bubble, and then run the ballet through a similar machine andmake sure it was hack proof. This would make use of machines, speeding up the process, however, I still think having neutral people count the ballets are the best idea. The ballets could be held in a safe place in the major cities across the nation, and election workers could go pick up the ballets on the morning of the election to ensure security. People just can't know who is going to pick up the ballets, or when. And it has to be a neutral party.