At what point were form 34A converted from JPEG to PDF?

shocks said:
But he also complained about the files lacking meta data, wacha tungoje tuskie vile IEBC wata defend hii
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Including metadata in a file is among the options one could select when saving a file, alongside others such as orientation, resolution etc. It has no function other than providing basic information about the file, such as the author, file name, date created etc. All these elements are editable hence cannot be used to establish the veracity of a document.
Therefore, this ought not be an issue unless it was a requirement. And even then, the physical form remains to be the most important reference.
 
upepo said:
What I meant to communicate is, judging people on technicalities or minor details, like I was taught many years ago, can be misleading in the present day
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regardless of that, fact is, still you'll be judge in Kenya or rather most part of Africa by appearance, some funny email address won't be opened, or even security guys won't allow you pass the gate to drop cv if you're not dressed for the part. That's the reality of our local market, hatujefika huko bado
 
Icon said:
I don't think it'll matter in the end --it's not like it's humans doing the conversion. Most systems (I have interacted with ) that need you to submit scanned documents usually convert them to some other format but they don't discard the original input. I don't think IEBC system devs would be reckless enough to discard the originally submitted images for something as sensitive as this. I think that the conversion most likely happened at the server. And I also think the original submissions still exist.
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I would tend to agree with you. It is also not a good idea to generate new file types on the fly since errors could easily occur.

For example: the file upload code must execute and store the file on the server and save the directory link in the database.

The the secondary code would execute by pulling the link from the database and converting the jpeg to pdf and storing it in a separate folder and saving that directory link in the database. This link is what was served on the portal which made it so easy to create a 'download all' button later on.
 
Denis Young said:
I would tend to agree with you. It is also not a good idea to generate new file types on the fly since errors could easily occur.

For example: the file upload code must execute and store the file on the server and save the directory link in the database.

The the secondary code would execute by pulling the link from the database and converting the jpeg to pdf and storing it in a separate folder and saving that directory link in the database. This link is what was served on the portal which made it so easy to create a 'download all' button later on.
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It is exasperating to see file formats become a point of discussion when no one is disputing the veracity of the original forms or the content of the images. If the laptop for every child program had been implemented 10 years ago, maybe we would not be having this debate as more adults would have been exposed to computers.
 
Icon said:
Not necessarily. JPEGS can offer extremely high quality images. And it's digital storage so nothing special about JPEGS that makes them especially susceptible to bit rot.

If the PDF is created from a lossy JPEG it won't magically increase the quality of the final document.

The advantage of PDFs is they look the same regardless of what is used to view the document (phone, PC, etc). And should different people print the same document they'll end up with pretty much identical prints (ignoring printer types etc).

I think IEBC was right to convert to PDF. Different devices will use different compression algorithms and for the sake of data uniformity it's just better to convert all input to the same read-only format. Easiest, most popular format is PDF.

That guy asking at what point the images were converted to PDFs is just trolling for time.
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This could be a legitimate question if electronic signatures are being used by the IEBC. E-signatures ( pki encryption) make it harder to alter documents during transmission. Supposing each KIEMS kit was used to sign every form 34A? Would it be possible to convert from one format to another while retaining the signature?
 
upepo said:
If the laptop for every child program had been implemented 10 years ago, maybe we would not be having this debate as more adults would have been exposed to computers.
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Hehehe... I know what you are saying here, but that project was the dumbest, most poorly planned and executed program I have ever seen. It was not practical even financially.

They should have substituted it with comprehensive computer labs for every school and mandatory computer lessons.

Furthemore, the program they had where they subsidized the cost of laptops for campus students should be distilled to other levels of education. My older sister was a beneficiary and that laptop really helped us learn so many things.
 
Icon said:
Not possible. I don't think it's even possible to edit a signed document. You have to remove the signature, edit it, then sign it again (if you are the one who signed it in the first place).
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Well said. I'm waiting for IEBC to tell us what they did to prevent document modifications during transmission. Remember, that Maraga's court nullified the election because of results transmission.
 
wadau, below is a snippet of the tender document for kiems kit.....

20220826_141712.jpg
 
Aviator said:
Does transmission matter this time considering they have originals from every station?
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It matters. The physical form could be replaced during transportation to IEBC national tallying center. Redundant copies should counter this form of attack but there could be collusion between agents and IEBC staff. To make this attack more difficult, an electronic copy is sent as soon as tallying is completed at each polling station. I'm hoping to find out from IEBC if those documents have e-signatures.
 
bigDog said:
It matters. The physical form could be replaced during transportation to IEBC national tallying center. Redundant copies should counter this form of attack but there could be collusion between agents and IEBC staff. To make this attack more difficult, an electronic copy is sent as soon as tallying is completed at each polling station. I'm hoping to find out from IEBC if those documents have e-signatures.
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Transmission vis-a-vis 2017 was a point of nullification because IEBC then relied on the transmitted data (it was in text format) to tally and announce the presidential results.

There were several discrepancies with the original 34A's due obvious human error when typing the data, or thieving, hence the the transmission of images.

This time around IEBC waited for every 34A's hence the long wait. Verification was done by checking the security features, agents verified with their copies and no single complaint was made against any of the forms. Any errors were recorded in the error log na ikaishia hapo.
 
Aviator said:
Does transmission matter this time considering they have originals from every station?
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Of course it matters mostly for perception and public confidence but it is very unlikely that the court would annul the election based on tampering of results in the online portal, as long as the results in the physical forms are accurate and verifiable the results stand.
 
Denis Young said:
Transmission vis-a-vis 2017 was a point of nullification because IEBC then relied on the transmitted data (it was in text format) to tally and announce the presidential results.

There were several discrepancies with the original 34A's due obvious human error when typing the data, or thieving, hence the the transmission of images.

This time around IEBC waited for every 34A's hence the long wait. Verification was done by checking the security features, agents verified with their copies and no single complaint was made against any of the forms. Any errors were recorded in the error log na ikaishia hapo.
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How would you confirm (counter check) that the physical copy delivered to the IEBC has not been altered or replaced with a counterfeit? My guess is that it must match the copy given to candidates' agents and the copy at the IEBC portal. But what happens if agents and IEBC staff are compromised?
 
bigDog said:
It matters. The physical form could be replaced during transportation to IEBC national tallying center.
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There were six copies of 34a. And what is in the physical form is FINAL. Not what was transmitted.
If I were azimios lawyer, I would be looking for discrepancies between the actual physical form and iebc tally. If the difference is substancial, then there is a case. The problem with Raila people is that they concentrate too much on sideshows at the expense of what really matters, forgetting even the supreme court has a very tight schedule and will quickly dismiss evidence that does not really support the petition.
 
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