News & Insights
We’re Making History in Real Time.
Our timely insights share informed perspectives on the rapidly evolving story of Election Technology, as it unfolds.
A New Chapter & Some Announcements
On this important day in history, and inspired by our new President's call to action, I want to briefly update you, the real stakeholders in our democracy, on our progress. I first want to thank all readers here -- from the merely interested, to the ardent supporters of the Foundation -- for your interest and passion in how we sustain one of the pillars of our democracy: the process of elections and the means by which we vote.
Today, at the start of a new chapter in our nation's history, we have some thoughts and announcements.
"Open Source" for Digital Voting Technology
Here's a question that came up a few times in our recent visit with the Congressional Internet Caucus: what exactly do you mean by open source? One variant of this question was: how can you expect to develop for real elections if you are operating as a "chaotic collective of flip-flop-wearing techno-hippies?"
It's a good question, and worth an detailed answer, which I ask you to read on our wiki (here) if you want the complete answer. But a short summary here is:
Visiting With Congress, Tech Policy, and Lessons Learned
Wow! We learned a lot from visiting with the U.S. Congress this week, by attending and demonstrating to the Congressional Internet Caucus at the annual State of the 'Net conference.
Election Technology Reform: Top Ten
Thanks to the Alert Reader that pointed me to http://change.org, the "Top Ten Issues" contest (winners to be presented in briefing to the new administration), and the issue about election technology reform at "Move The Country Towards Transparent Election Systems". (Check it out! You might want participate in the poll yourself.)
Can We Test Voting Systems?
We’ve quite a bit lately about a topic that is central to election confidence. One way of asking the question (which we heard this week at the Pew Center’s “Make Voting Work” Voting in America summit) is:
"Voting in America Summit" Starts With a Bang
Maybe it's the "sleeper" event of the post-election, pre-inauguration season in DC -- the "Voting in America Summit" conference (sponsored by Make Voting Work, a project of The Pew Center on the States in partnership with the JEHT Foundation).
Outsourced Elections
Believe it not, elections in the U.S. are outsourced to for-profit companies. That's a statement I made when I spoke about election technology and election integrity at a DHS conference on technology and homeland security. I was asked what exactly I meant, and could give a specific example. I did, and explained the varying degrees of outsourcing. But I found an example in the recent election that is such a good example that I can't resist sharing it.
Re-inventing How America Votes -- Now More Relevant Than Ever
In a previous post, I noted two things we've learned from this election. The first (and subject of that post) is to what extent the Internet has changed the way elections are conducted. The second, and the focus here, is to what extent the election taught us anything about the need to re-invent HOW America votes.
In the past two days, I've been asked several times whether the election, as it turned out, reduces the importance of our Project or not. Seriously.
The Internet Changed Something About Elections, Just Not What You Think
In the aftermath of this historic election a couple of observations are worth making.
First, the need for election reform and how America votes persists. Had the election not gone down in the manner it did, and had Senator McCain not conceded when he did, make no mistake challenges would have ensued. But I'll leave that for another post. For this one, let me turn attention to the second. So,
An OSDV Election Night Gift: The Pugent Smell of Freshly Cut Code!
Greetings Friends & Supporters of the OSDV Project-
The Machineries of Democracy: Failed Trust, Elections in Courts
As you might imagine, it is hard to choose from the manyevents of Election Day 2008 to report and reflect on! But I thought that I’d pick a handful of events that show just how vitally important it is the election equipment be designed carefully – and the consequences of products that aren’t, and vendors that don’t seem to care. I have to say, it’s potentially dire, which is why I’ve picked as many as 3 events to support my claims.
Republican National Committee Prepares for Computerized Voting Fraud Legal Battle
From the Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch: http://tinyurl.com/5hptsr
A Proposed Voter Bill of Rights
On this Election Day I am back in the blog saddle here (more or less), and have been very busy in recent months working on development issues for the Foundation and relocating to our new Portland, OR offices from San Francisco, although I am down in the Silicon Valley twice monthly.
While I tweet myself to carpel tunnel death, monitoring several channels of streaming news data on voting, I want to pass along this interesting item on a proposed voter bill of rights.
Virginia: Secrets, Lines, and Preventing Coercion
The state of Virginialooks like a state-full of Election Day trouble spots, to many elections experts and activists. I agree with one of the main concerns (long lines at the polls) but I also wanted to share the beneficial flip side of the VA scene, recalled to me by the eloquent words of colleague Doug Jones of University of Iowa.
Tennesseeans Confused by Voting Machines' BAR
With early voting continuing apace (often a slow pace withlong lines), so does the stream of news on election dysfunction, usually with an e-voting system as a culprit. But today’s news from Knox County TN shows how a seemingly simple question can create some serious – but wholly unnecessary – confusion.
Early Voting: Reliability and Reluctance
The 2009 U.S. Presidential election is now underway, with early voting having started in many states. And pretty much right off the bat, we’re seeing problems with reliability and reluctance. The story in New Jersey is a familiar one writ large, but the contrast with Texas and Florida shows that often the same concerns-- reliability and trust -- lead to similar reluctance about both using e-voting technology, and about avoiding it. The kicker is the reluctance to avoid it, in Florida – read on.
Fewer Touchscreens, But Just as Much Technology
Today some good news that is also annoying and misleading.
The Dark Side of Voter Registration
I've noticed more coverage of election integrity issues relating to voter registration. It's good to see some focus on VR-related problems, but I don't see much about a deeper issue -- transparency and publc accountability of the (im)proper use of voter registration systems and processes.
Palm Beach Lost Votes: Paper is not the Problem
The dust has settled – sort of – in the “lost ballots snafu” in Palm Beach County Florida, enough that I can correct a very serious mis-reading of the events, and briefly summarize the two completely contradictory “outcomes” of investigation: (1) it’s an accounting problem, not a technology problem, and (2) it’s a technology problem. Either way, the result is a failed election – not just a clouded outcome, but a completely failed election. The very short story: a recount was needed, 3000+ ballots couldn’t be
Out-sourced elections: an about-face?
It looks like there may some movement away from the current situation in which U.S. elections are increasingly outsourced and privatized.