The Internet has become ubiquitous, but its impact on democratic institutions is still evolving. Explore the issues surrounding electronic voting, government efforts to communicate via the Web, and ways the Net is being used to stimulate civic involvement.
Diebold is a major vendor in electronic voting technologies.
Federal elections are one of the few areas where Congress has historically bowed to the Constitutional division of federal and state powers. However, in 2002, Congress interjected the federal government into how states conduct federal elections when it passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA - Public Law 107-252).
Election fraud can take many forms. On one side, an election can be fraudulent because of issues surrounding the voter - the casting of the vote. On the other side, an election can be fraudulent because the votes "counted" were not the votes "cast."
13 November 2005. Despite spending untold millions on new voting equipment, the 2004 election had both real and potential error, according to a recent GAO report. Moreover, due to January deadlines and little government guidance for localities, the situation is unlikely to improve for 2006.
2 May 2006. The primary season, which opened in March with two primaries (Texas and Illinois), takes a giant step forward today, when voters head to ballots in three states: Indiana (one Senate, nine House), North Carolina (13 House), and Ohio (one Senate, 18 House, Governor).
15 December 2005. North Carolina's State Elections Board has approved Diebold Election Systems, Election Systems & Software and Sequoia Voting Systems for purchase by the state's 100 counties. A judge heard arguments about the validity of the Diebold recommendation on Wednesday but will not rule before 21 December
Commentary on how elections are conducted in the United States.
Among other things, this law - enacted in 2002 - establishes a program to provide funds to States to replace punch card voting systems and establishes the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to assist with administration of Federal elections.
Established by the HAVA, the Commission is charged with providing information and guidance about laws, procedures, and technologies affecting Federal election administration. Due to funding issues, the EAC got off to a late start; by mid-2004, it had held only eight hearings (all in 2004) and has missed Congressional deadlines.
Whitney Quenesbery, past president of the Usability Professional Association, explains why voting machine usability matters.
This joint project was established in response to Election 2000 voting issues in Florida. Its goal is to the state of reliability of US voting systems and to establish guidelines for performance and reliability.
This February 2004 statement endorses verified voting: "all new voting equipment should have a voter verifiable audit system that both allows a voter to double check the vote before it is cast and provides assurance that the tabulator counts all votes as they were cast."
CIO magazine explores the issue of electronic voting, where one of the primary critics is a group of computer scientists. What's the risk? In 2000 -- the year of the butterfly ballot fiasco in Florida, only about 20 million registered voters used electronic voting machines; that number is projected to more than double this November.
An acknowledged expert and critic, Rebecca Mercuri maintains an extensive resource on electronic voting systems.
This National Institute of Standards and Technology 2004 report to Congress details how to ensure the usability and accuracy of voting products and systems. Special Publication 500-256. 104 pages, PDF.
This George Washington University Institute researches online politics, helps develop standards of practice for online campaigning, and promotes good campaign practices in the public space that is the Internet.
Do you want to make sure that your vote is counted? If you cast your vote electronically, how do you know that it will be counted or that it will be counted correctly? Verified Voting advocates a voter-verified paper ballots (VVPBs), allowing voters to inspect individual permanent records of their ballots before they are cast. This ensures that a meaningful recount may be conducted if needed.
This MSNBC "interactive" explores the pros and cons of five voting systems: paper ballot, lever machine, punch card, optical scan and touch screen (electronic voting).
