Digital Democracy: A look at Voting Machines Presented by Justin Dugger April 2003

Overview Technologies Technologies Law Law Social Issues Social Issues

Australian Ballot Anonymous Vote Anonymous Vote Discourages Coersion Discourages Coersion Difficult Accountablility Difficult Accountablility Problems Problems Undervote (okay) Undervote (okay) Overvote (invalid) Overvote (invalid) Fraud Fraud Repeat Voting Repeat Voting Chain Voting Chain Voting

Mechanical Levers Lever operates privacy screen Lever operates privacy screen Several levers to declare votes Several levers to declare votes Mechanical odometer that tabulate pulls Mechanical odometer that tabulate pulls Tampered to not register votes Tampered to not register votes Mechanical failures: 99 more frequent than 98 or 100 Mechanical failures: 99 more frequent than 98 or % of registered voters in the United States in the 1996 election used levers 20.7% of registered voters in the United States in the 1996 election used levers

Punch Cards Faster than hand count Faster than hand count Paper jams, dimpled chads, hanging chads Paper jams, dimpled chads, hanging chads

Optical Mark-Sense Scan “Scantron” style ballot “Scantron” style ballot Human Readable Human Readable Faster vs hand counting Faster vs hand counting Uses simple computer vision techniques Uses simple computer vision techniques Threshold of filled pixels on bounding rectangle? Threshold of filled pixels on bounding rectangle?

Direct Recording Electronic Records vote onto hard drive or database Records vote onto hard drive or database No technological need for physical ballot No technological need for physical ballot Example: ADV EDGE from Sequoia Example: ADV EDGE from Sequoia Holds 500 votes max Holds 500 votes max Assistance for multilingual and disabled voters Assistance for multilingual and disabled voters “Proprietary firmware on closed system prevents hacker access” “Proprietary firmware on closed system prevents hacker access” “Ballots can be printed to accommodate hand recounts” “Ballots can be printed to accommodate hand recounts”

The Internet?!? Vote online with a web browser Vote online with a web browser Web server subject to “flash crowds” Web server subject to “flash crowds” Brings up concerns as absentee ballots: Brings up concerns as absentee ballots: Influence Influence Vote Selling Vote Selling “A secure Internet voting system is theoretically possible, but it would be the first secure networked application ever created in the history of computers. “ “A secure Internet voting system is theoretically possible, but it would be the first secure networked application ever created in the history of computers. “ -Bruce Schneier

Current Voting Framework Election laws are state legislated Election laws are state legislated Generally proceeds: Generally proceeds: 1. Voter Registration 2. Election Day 3. Count 4. Certification of Vote Machines often approved by Secretary of State for county use, who relies on ITAs. Machines often approved by Secretary of State for county use, who relies on ITAs.

Help America Vote Act of 2002 Funded mandate to replace voting machines in federal elections Funded mandate to replace voting machines in federal elections Eliminates Lever and punch cards Eliminates Lever and punch cards Sets some general guidelines for machines Sets some general guidelines for machines Establishes state wide voter databases Establishes state wide voter databases Requires NIST to organize and develop guidelines for security, privacy, usability, and remote access Requires NIST to organize and develop guidelines for security, privacy, usability, and remote access

A Petition Against DRE DRE machines eliminate voter audit trails DRE machines eliminate voter audit trails Endorsed by several computing celebrities: Endorsed by several computing celebrities: Bruce Schneier Bruce Schneier Ronald Rivest, Charles Leiserson, Ed Felton Ronald Rivest, Charles Leiserson, Ed Felton Most of the Stanford CS faculty Most of the Stanford CS faculty Public Policy Committee of ACM Public Policy Committee of ACM

Other Issues Open Source? Not likely. Open Source? Not likely. Social Engineering Social Engineering Diebold FTP was found with public access Diebold FTP was found with public access No Background Checks No Background Checks Felons not allowed to vote in most states Felons not allowed to vote in most states Monopoly? ES&S sold half US machines Monopoly? ES&S sold half US machines Buggy? VoteHere QA engineer fired, filing wrongful termination lawsuit Buggy? VoteHere QA engineer fired, filing wrongful termination lawsuit

References Douglas Jones, “A Brief Illustrated History of Voting.” Course notes for “Voting and Elections “ class. Accessed on April 20 th Douglas Jones, “A Brief Illustrated History of Voting.” Course notes for “Voting and Elections “ class. Accessed on April 20 th Lever Voting, FEC. Accessed on April 20 th from Lever Voting, FEC. Accessed on April 20 th from David Dill, Resolution on Electronic Voting verify.stanford.edu/evote.html David Dill, Resolution on Electronic Voting verify.stanford.edu/evote.htmlverify.stanford.edu/evote.html David Dill, Personal Communication David Dill, Personal Communication Ronnie Dugger, “Annals of Democracy Counting Votes.” November 7 th, The New Yorker Available online at Ronnie Dugger, “Annals of Democracy Counting Votes.” November 7 th, The New Yorker Available online at Current Recommended Standards: Current Recommended Standards: HAVA : HAVA : Senator Hagel Controversy: thehill.com/news/012903/hagel.aspx Senator Hagel Controversy: thehill.com/news/012903/hagel.aspxthehill.com/news/012903/hagel.aspx Vendors: Vendors: ITAs ITAs