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Convened by the American Association for the
Advancement of Science
Main | Participants
Subsequent to the debacle of the 2000 U.S. Presidential election, it
became abundantly clear that America’s archaic voting system was in dire
need of a major overhaul. Consequently, the federal government allocated
funds for the purchase of modern voting equipment. More specifically,
Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines are under consideration
for use in a number of states. Incidentally, electronic voting machines
are currently being used in a select few counties throughout the United
States. Unfortunately, this has not been without controversy.
For example, it has been
widely reported by the media, that electronic voting machines pose a number
of unacceptable risks. In fact, news agencies such as the Miami Herald,
Wired News and others have noted that electronic voting systems have been
found to be quite vulnerable to hackers, malignant workers, faulty code,
lack of recount ability, and human error. These security issues have
eroded voter confidence in the electronic voting process and have intimidated
non-technical savvy voters. Therefore,
a system must be built that can address these aforementioned issues and
instill voter confidence in the electronic voting process. Consequently,
it is no longer sufficient for a system to simply be secure; the voter
must feel confident in the integrity of the system. Additionally, the
system must be easy to navigate and use for all segments of the voter
population. In research conducted at Auburn University in the Human Centered
Computing Lab, the Prime III electronic voting system has been developed.
Prime III delivers the requisite
system security, integrity, and user satisfaction safeguards in a user
friendly, secure, electronic voting system. Moreover, Prime III incorporates
the current voting process that the voter is accustomed to using and significantly
improves upon it. This approach allows the voter to remain comfortable
and confident while using an enhanced voting system. The Prime III voting
process begins when the voter enters the voting precinct. The voter is
verified with the election officials using the pre-defined process for
that precinct for state, i.e. showing the official an acceptable form
of identification (ID). After the voter is verified, the voter is handed
a unique ballot card. The voter takes the ballot card to an empty voting
booth. The voting booth contains a single sheet printer, a touch screen
and a headset. The voter places their ballot card into the printer and
is subsequently presented with the option of using the touch screen, headset
with an embedded microphone or both to cast their ballot. The Prime III
system has an integrated automatic speech recognition (ASR) system which
can be accessed through the headset. The implementation of a robust multimodal
system (text-to-speech, speech-to-text, and touch) facilitates voter interaction
with the system in a private manner, even if the voter has a physical
disability, i.e. anything from arthritis, to a visual impairment. Voters
that can’t see, hear or read, can still vote! When a voter uses the
ASR component of the Prime III system they are prompted through the choice
of candidates via the headset. Each candidate is assigned a randomly
generated number that the voter can select by simply saying the number.
For example, the first candidate is assigned a random number and incremental
numbers are assigned for each additional candidate. This is done so that
when the user articulates the number corresponding to a candidate, no
other voter will know which candidate they are voting for.
After the voter finishes voting via the touch
screen and/or the headset, their selection is displayed and spoken to
them. The voter is required to confirm the selection using touch or speech.
Upon review and confirmation from the voter, the system prints out the
corresponding ballot card and records a virtual vote on a Prime III server.
Additionally, the voter is able to observe the system while it records
the vote and prints their ballot card. This provides an assurance that
even in the unlikely event of a system malfunction, there is a redundant
paper trail of the vote. Next, the voter exits the voting booth and places
their ballot card into the ballot box.
Last but not least, Prime III
implements several security measures to protect the vote counts. These
security measures incorporate physical security, hardware and software
techniques to protect the entire system and the vote counts.
For additional information on
Prime III, see the following links:
http://www.PrimeVotingSystem.com
http://www.primevotingsystem.com/PrimeIII.wmv
http://www.ocm.auburn.edu/news_releases/elec.html
http://www.PrimeVotingSystem.com/OANew-PrimeIII.pdf
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