Mark Coakley
markcoakley.bsky.social
Mark Coakley
@markcoakley.bsky.social
Congrats to Michelle Stark (@thestarktruth.bsky.social), author of non-fiction book Broken: How far would you go for a dog that you love? It was shortlisted for this year's Hamilton Literary Awards. Published by Fire Ant Press, Broken is at local bookstores & Hamilton Public Library. Read it #HamOnt
December 2, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Congrats to Michelle Stark (@thestarktruth.bsky.social), author of non-fiction book Broken: How far would you go for a dog that you love? It was longlisted for this year's Hamilton Literary Awards. Published by Fire Ant Press, Broken is at local bookstores & Hamilton Public Library. Read it! #HamOnt
October 22, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Authors in the Park, 1-5pm Aug. 24, Victoria Park, #HamOnt
July 29, 2025 at 8:57 PM
July 26, 2025 at 7:09 PM
"50% of the online voters in the 2018 [municipal] election were uniquely re‐identifiable by their login credentials ... We question whether the democratic and legal principles of the Municipal Elections Act are being adequately protected"
Prof. Essex, Western U
whisperlab.org/ontario-onli...
#HamOnt
January 3, 2025 at 4:36 PM
A perfect #Christmas gift for the animal lover in your life, the book Broken by Michelle Stark.
fireantpress.com
#HamOnt #dogs #pets
November 29, 2024 at 10:44 AM
I enjoyed Broken very much. The author's love for all animals, esp. the fragile Silken Windhounds at the heart of this lovely and profound story, is moving. Moments of humour; other moments had me in tears. A well-written, well-researched book that touched me ...
fireantpress.com
#HamOnt #dogs #pets
November 26, 2024 at 9:12 PM
Buy a great new book by a #Hamont author.

Broken: How far would you go for a dog that you love?
by Michelle Stark
@thestarktruth.bsky.social
fireantpress.com

Lawyer goes on quest to uncover the truth behind her beloved pet’s suffering; finds disturbing revelations about the dog breeding industry.
November 26, 2024 at 12:01 PM
#HamOnt city council may partly privatize local elections

Companies hoping for profit$ from running online voting here include:

Dominion Voting
Intelivote
Scytl
Neuvote
Simply Voting
Voatz

Some of them sue critics, so all I'll ask is: Are you ok with one these firms in control of our #democracy?
November 19, 2024 at 11:51 AM
"50% of the online voters in the 2018 [municipal] election were uniquely re‐identifiable by their login credentials ... We question whether the democratic and legal principles of the Municipal Elections Act are being adequately protected"
Prof. Essex, Western U
whisperlab.org/ontario-onli...
#HamOnt
November 14, 2024 at 11:48 PM
Security fails in 2018 Ont municipal online voting: weak voter authentication, poor transparency of results, lack of disaster‐preparedness. E-voting led to extension to voting period due to broken online infrastructure on election day
whisperlab.org/ontario-onli...
-- Prof. Essex, Western U
#HamOnt
November 14, 2024 at 8:11 PM
Ontario has one of the largest concentrations of online voters globally but its use is not governed by any federal or provincial cybersecurity standard. Municipalities make decisions in isolation, relying on private for‐profit vendors.
-- Prof. Essex, Western U
whisperlab.org/ontario-onli...
#HamOnt
November 14, 2024 at 3:44 PM

Online voting will privatize municipal elections, with unaccountable, for-profit companies controlling the online voting process and data.

If an election is tainted by hacking, the most these firms can do is offer a rebate.

Keep voting in public hands.

#onlinevoting #HamOnt #Ontario #democracy
November 1, 2024 at 12:54 PM
Online voting:
Technology that voters do not understand feeds election-result denialism. See the large percentage of US voters who believe the lie that (non-internet connected) voting machines stole the 2020 election. Also, see the 2000 Bush v. Gore Florida recount
E-voting = results denial
#HamOnt
October 30, 2024 at 1:08 PM
The govts of China, India, Russia and Iran have interfered and will continue to interfere in Canadian elections, including municipal elections, say Canadian and US intelligence agencies.
See public inquiry into foreign interference: foreigninterferencecommission.ca
#HamOnt #Hamilton #Ontario #vote
October 27, 2024 at 3:05 PM
"Remote electronic voting ... has been analyzed and found insecure by virtually all cybersecurity experts for the past 20 years."
-- Why Internet Voting is a Threat to Our Democracy, Barbara Simons, Verified Voting Board Chair, 2023
verifiedvoting.org/why-internet...
#HamOnt #Hamilton #Ontario #Vote
October 25, 2024 at 9:48 AM
"The best method for securing elections is a tried-and-true one: mailed paper ballots ... They are not vulnerable to the same wholesale fraud or manipulation associated with internet voting."
-- www.acm.org/binaries/con...
#Hamont #Democracy #Vote #Voting #Election #Elections #Municipalities #Cities
October 24, 2024 at 12:03 AM
"In the US, federal entities that oversee cybersecurity and elections — including the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Homeland Security — have made clear that internet voting cannot be conducted securely."
www.techpolicy.press/security-and...
#HamOnt
October 23, 2024 at 10:01 AM
"Banks and online retailers ... factor in some degree of loss as a cost of doing business online, and generally indemnify their customers against bad actors. Online voting poses a much tougher problem: lost votes are unacceptable."
-- Atlantic Council
www.atlanticcouncil.org/wp-content/u...
#HamOnt
October 20, 2024 at 1:02 AM
"Given the vulnerability of the Internet to denial of service attacks and the unreliability of the Domain Name Service, we believe that the technology does not exist to enable remote electronic voting in public elections"
- Nat. Assoc. of Election Officials
electioncenter.org/electionreso...
#HamOnt
October 19, 2024 at 11:52 PM
"All internet voting systems and technologies are inherently insecure. No technical evidence exists that any internet voting technology is safe or can be made so ... All research performed to date demonstrates the opposite."
-- Association for Computing Machinery
www.acm.org/media-center...
#HamOnt
October 18, 2024 at 10:36 PM
Without paper ballots to count, accusations of voting system hacking will raise doubts about the legitimacy of an election. Online voting doesn't increase voter turnout. Risks of online voting are great.
Richard Akerman (Senior Policy Advisor at ISED Canada)
www.ourcommons.ca/content/Comm...
#HamOnt
October 18, 2024 at 10:11 PM
There is consensus among computer security experts that internet voting, esp. through commercial vendors, is fundamentally insecure. No proposal provides protection against the risks.
-- Internet voting by Barbra Simons, 2016, Municipal World
www.municipalworld.com/feature-stor...
#HamOnt #HamOn
October 18, 2024 at 10:05 PM
In addition to the risk of cyberattacks and loss of public trust, online voting poses fundamental challenges in attaining both verifiability and anonymity. Paper ballots achieve both requirements.
Information and Privacy Commissioner for Newfoundland & Labrador
www.oipc.nl.ca/files/Intern...
#HamOnt
October 18, 2024 at 10:00 PM
Online voting is increasingly prevalent in Ontario municipalities despite a lack of technological and procedural safeguards. Private vendors make security and privacy claims that are difficult to verify
Cyber Risks in Ontario Online Elections, James Brunet, 2024
ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcont...
#Hamont
October 18, 2024 at 9:31 PM