Convened by the American Association for the
Advancement of Science
Main | Program | Participants
| Synopses
Maryland's Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting system has been studied
and analyzed more than any other voting system in the country. Maryland's voting
system vendor has come under more criticism than any other voting system vendor.
Based upon this experience, I offer issues in two categories: those dealing
with the technology, and those dealing with the administration of elections
using this technology.
TECHNOLOGY:
Security
o What is the extent to which the voting system vendors are incorporating security
into all of their processes, i.e., from system design and development to manufacturing
to client delivery?
o Perform a Risk Assessment of ALL Voting Systems
o What is the Cost/Benefit analysis of the implementation of security?
Usability
o Multiple-page ballot vs. Full-face ballot
- Is a voter more likely to have "drop off" votes on a multiple
page ballot?
o To what extent are voting system vendors incorporating usability studies
into the development of voting systems?
Innovation/Keeping Current
o How does one ensure that the technology purchased today stays current with
new and emerging technology?
FEC 2000 Voting System Security Standards
o Need to be broadened to incorporate industry standard computer system security
standards (led by NIST)
o Review and evaluate NIST security standards to see which are reasonable to
apply
o Cost/Benefit analysis
o Baseline for each Model
Testing
o What are the Test Plans and Scripts used by the Independent Testing Authorities
(ITAs)?
o What additional tests can/should be performed to verify all aspects of the
voting system?
o Need more ITA laboratories and personnel
- Now, appears to be one person in each lab who tests all vendors' systems
- Unable to keep up with the many different technologies and upgrades in the
pipeline
What role can/should NIST play?
o Establish baseline security analyses and requirements for
- Vendors
- Election Officials
- Voters
ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS:
Application of existing management principles to election administration:
o Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)
- Examples:
- How do you handle the sheer volume of tasks, personnel, and time associated
with 16,000+ units in the state?
- Inventory and Logistics
- User Acceptance Testing
- Election Preparation
- Election Officials need to re-think all processes
- Example: Do you need to perform L&A (Logic & Accuracy) tests
on all 16,000+ units?
o People Change Management
- DRE Technology is changing the way election business is done
- Enhanced in-house technical personnel required
- Desire to eliminate reliance on vendors
- Need higher standard for election officials at all levels
- "Technical" Election Judges - new requirement
- After BPR, how do you help the people go through the change process to accepting
the new way of doing business?
o Public Relations/Communications/Outreach
- Public perception issues about voting system companies
- Often over-simplified perspective of processes, technology, and level of
effort to prepare equipment for and conduct an election
- Cost/Benefit - for everything that is done
- New technology empowers more voters than ever before, e.g., blind and handicapped
voters
- How can we do what has to be done and keep the public's confidence in elections?
What is the Cost of conducting an election?
o DRE vs. Optical Scan vs. Lever vs. Punch Card
o Individual jurisdictions vs. State
What is the Cost of technical support for voting systems and the best way
to manage the support across the jurisdiction(s)?
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