TO: CVF-NEWS FROM: Kim Alexander DATE: February 24, 2003 RE: Touchscreen voting developments
Hi Folks,
There have been many important voting technology developments recently -- this issue of CVF-NEWS will bring you up to date with the latest news. In this issue:
* California Secretary of State forms Touch Screen Voting Task Force
* Santa Clara County update -- decision expected Tuesday, 2/25
* New Touchscreen Voting FAQ online
* 300+ technologists endorse "Resolution on Electronic Voting"
* * * * * * * * * *
* California Secretary of State forms Touch Screen Voting Task Force
Last week newly-elected California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley announced he is creating a task force to advise him and his voting systems certification board on touch screen voting security and paper trail issues.
I've been asked to serve on this new task force, which will hold its first meeting today, Monday, February 24 in San Francisco. Other task force members include: Mark Kyle, Undersecretary of State (chair); Mischelle Townsend Registrar of Voters, Riverside County; David Dill, Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University; David Jefferson, Computer Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Jim Wisley, consultant to Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson; Charlie Wallis, Departmental IT Coordinator, San Diego Registrar's Office; Robert Naegele, President, Granite Creek Technology, Inc.; and Shawn Casey O'Brien, Executive Director, Unique People's Voting Project.
In his news release announcing the task force, Shelley said, "It is important to build a consensus that our voting systems are secure. Voters must have complete confidence their votes are accurately counted. This new task force, comprised of election experts, scientists and the public, will help determine what should be required from new voting technology in terms of their capability to produce paper copies of electronic ballots. Voter confidence - not technology - will ultimately determine the future of our electoral system."
* * * * * * * * * *
* Santa Clara County update -- decision expected Tuesday, 2/25
Santa Clara County supervisors will meet this Tuesday to decide whether to select a paperless touchscreen voting system for their county or to modify their proposal to instead require a touchscreen voting system that provides a voter-verified paper trail. The meeting starts at 9:30 a.m. in San Jose, and the agenda is online at http://www.sccgov.org/agenda/view/0,5310,ccid%253D213788,00.html. Today's San Jose Mercury News features a story about the potentially far-reaching impact of Santa Clara's decision. The Merc story is online at http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/5249536.htm.
The supervisors held a workshop on February 11 which featured a presentation by computer scientists David Dill and Peter Neumann, as well as testimonials from numerous Santa Clara voters who endorsed the need for a voter-verified paper trail. I attended the workshop and submitted a letter to the supervisors explaining Proposition 41's paper trail requirements in detail and that, while it is up to counties to decide if they want a voter-verified paper audit trail, the Legislature did require counties to, at a minimum, print hard copies of digital ballots after the polls close. My memo to the Supervisors is online at http://www.calvoter.org/publications/santaclaraboard.html.
* * * * * * * * * *
* New Touchscreen Voting FAQ online
In response to questions raised by Santa Clara supervisors, David Dill along with several other computer scientists have created a collection of "Frequently Asked Questions" and answers about DRE Voting Systems, available http://verify.stanford.edu/evote/faq.html.
* * * * * * * * * *
* 300+ technologists endorse "Resolution on Electronic Voting"
New people are endorsing Dill's "Resolution on Electronic Voting" every day -- at last count more than 300 technologists have endorsed the call for a voter-verified paper trail, along with many other individuals and organizations. Check out the latest news on Dill's resolution at http://verify.stanford.edu/evote. In addition, Salon wrote an interesting piece about Dill's efforts as well as those of Bev Harris, author of the forthcoming book "Black Box Voting" and editor of http://www.blackboxvoting.com -- "Hacking Democracy?" is online at http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/02/20/voting_machines/index.html.
Have a great week,
Kim Alexander, California Voter Foundation
kimalex@calvoter.org, http://www.calvoter.org , (916) 441-2494
 |
Back to CVF-NEWS index |
|
Subscribe to CVF-NEWS |
|
Contact Kim Alexander |
This page was first published on February 24, 2003 | Last updated on February 24, 2003
copyright 1994 - 2002, California Voter Foundation. All rights reserved.