{news} Voting System Panel Focuses on Verification (ELECTIONLINE.ORG)

[Tim McKee]

electionline Weekly – April 28, 2005

electionline.org

 

Voting System Guideline Panel Focuses on Verification

By Elizabeth Schneider

electionline.org

 

GERMANTOWN, Md. – The Technical Guidelines Development Committee, a panel chaired by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and created to make recommendations to the federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC) on voluntary voting system guidelines, met to finalize draft standards earlier this month, wading through the oft-controversial topic of verifiability with electronic voting machines. 

 

The recommendations must now be adopted by the EAC. So far states have relied upon 2002 technology standards set by the Federal Election Commission.

 

Because of the rising use of direct-recording electronic (DRE) machines, some of the debate at the two-day meeting focused on security measures for these systems.

 

Among the recommended security measures was the use of “independent dual verifications” systems such as voter-verifiable paper audit trails (VVPAT), modified optical-scan machines and “witness” or capture screen technology.

 

Recognizing the rapid pace in which technology evolves, voting systems may encounter an increase in operational problems causing potential hitches in higher stakes elections and an increase in fraud, said John Wack, a voting security researcher at NIST.

 

VVPAT advocates have pushed their case before and since the November election, and with the January 1, 2006 HAVA deadline approaching to replace antiquated voting systems, 34 states have introduced, and in some cases passed, legislation to add paper trails to electronic machines.

 

However, some say alternative methods to increase DRE security are still worth investigating.

 

“It appeared to some individuals that NIST was only providing requirements for VVPAT systems… that NIST was somehow promoting it,” Wack said. “That was an unintended consequence of our work.”

 

In October 2004, Democracy Systems, a Florida-based company, introduced the VoteGuard verification system which captures every image that a touch-screen voting system generates, including voted ballots, provisional ballots, write-ins, summary screens and vote totals and audio output from a DRE machine.

 

According to Democracy Systems president John McLaurin, the VoteGuard is unique because of the independent nature of its capture as opposed to using software created by voting machine vendor software.

 

In the 2004 election the system was put to the test in Virginia.

 

Election officials in Caroline County made arrangements to outfit one precinct with one touch screen using the capture screen technology. “If it is determined that a verification system should be used [VoteGuard] is certainly the way to go. It is like the video replay they use in football games. You can replay exactly how the voter intended to vote,” stated Park Dodd, county chairman of the board of elections.

 

 





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