In Focus This Week
VoComp 2007
Student voting competition encourages ideas and discussion for the future
By David Walker
Special to electionline.org
The 2008 presidential elections are still over a year away, but the race is on to have more secure and accurate voting systems in place before the polls open.
Creating better voting systems has become a pressing issue following the controversial 2000 presidential elections, when many of the flaws in current systems led to a political showdown in Florida. The problems that arose during that election, most specifically in Florida, were not necessarily new, but merely more apparent in the almost too-close-to-call race between Al Gore and George Bush.
The formation of the first-ever University Voting Systems Competition (VoComp), held last week in Portland, Ore., offered a sampling of some of the current research and development in the voting world. The competition was announced in September 2006, and student teams had until May 2007 to design and use their systems in on-campus elections.
“Part of what makes VoComp exciting is that the teams have taken research ideas and put them into working models,” said Dr. Alan T. Sherman, one of the key organizers of the event.
The primary goals of VoComp were to encourage innovations in voting techniques, create interaction between researchers and election officials, and promote student participation in elections, while at the same time creating an operational open-source voting system. Four teams, comprised of a diverse mix of students representing seven universities, competed for the grand prize of $10,000 from sponsor Election Systems & Software.
Three themes of research were emphasized and used to guide the development of the various systems. First and foremost was the issue of security with the development of “End-to-End” (E2E) secure technology to ensure each vote is correctly counted and tabulated. The importance of usability, having become a major issue in the aftermath of the 2000 elections, was also a guiding theme in the research and development. Finally, attention was paid to Internet voting, a system that is still potentially a long way from becoming in reality in the United States.
A mock election held on Monday, July 16 allowed “voters” to test each system by casting ballots.
The Voting Ducks, a coercion-free, verifiable Internet voting system designed by students from Wroclaw University of Technology, was perhaps the most innovative of the competition systems in that it ventured further away from existing systems. Unfortunately, it was also the most difficult of the four systems to understand, making it hard to use.
By contrast, Punchscan, a system designed by students from George Washington University, University of Ottawa, and University of Maryland, Baltimore County, was one of easiest systems to operate, while at the same time the most similar to voting systems currently used in some states.
The Prêt à Voter Battle Bus, designed by students from University of Surrey and University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, held great promise in that it was also similar enough to current voting systems that it could theoretically be integrated with a degree of ease.
Prime III, designed by students at Auburn University, utilized an electronic voting system with voice option for those with disabilities. Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines have raised concerns over wide range of security issues. Those concerns notwithstanding, the Prime III system was hands-down the easiest of the competition voting systems to comprehend and use.
One of the key factors that should have been considered by all the teams is the burning American desire to have things fast, easy and simple to understand. The ultimate success or failure of any new voting system will depend in large part on whether or not Americans will embrace the new platform.
Of all the teams in competition, Punchscan, which went on to win the grand prize, seemed to be most aware of the need to design a system similar to existing models.
During the award presentation John Groh of ES&S stressed that VoComp is “not a competition to be won, but shared.”
Indeed, if the lively critiques of the systems by the teams themselves were any indication, future VoComp gatherings will be as much about the sharing of ideas as competing for cash and prizes.
“Competition inspires people to be creative and brings out the best in them,” said Sherman.
David Walker is a freelance writer based in Portland, Ore.
Election News This Week
- Supporters in the city of St. Paul, Minn. are closer than ever to getting a proposition on the ballot that would allow for instant runoff voting in city council and mayoral elections. The organizing group needs only 5,098 signatures to get a spot on the ballot in the city, and elections officials have set an Aug. 14 deadline to submit the petition for this year’s election. “We’ve got 4,500 signatures already although there may be more out there that we don’t know about. We’re going to pass 5,000, there’s no question about that,” said Beth Mercer-Taylor, manager of the ballot campaign told the Pioneer Press.
- The state ombudsman for Alaska has begun an investigation into a state commission’s approval of a special Delta-area election that if approved, would create a borough around Delta Junction. According to the Fairbanks Daily News, the investigation is focused on the Alaska Local Boundary Commission, the state commission responsible for overseeing proposals to create or annex areas into municipal governments. “The Local Boundary Commission, throughout this … whatever you want to call it, has operated outside of their own regulations,” said Mitchell Gay, chairman of the anti-borough campaign group Alaskans for Freedom and Reform told the paper.
- Another jurisdiction in Montana has decided to make the switch to vote-by-mail for local elections. According the Daily Inter Lake, the town of Whitefish approved a resolution that will allow officials to conduct its November election by mail. According to Flathead County Election Department Supervisor Monica Eisenzimer, Whitefish’s relatively small population makes it the prime location to test mail-in only voting. Last year one-fourth of Whitefish voters sent in absentee ballots, Eisenzimer told the paper. If successful, the rest of the county may follow suit as soon as 2010.
- Christine Jennings has not given up on the 13th Congressional seat in Florida yet. She announced late last week that she plans to run again for the seat when it opens up in 2008. Jennings never conceded the race and told the Herald Tribune, “I didn’t lose,” Jennings said in an interview after her speech. “I just don’t have the seat.” Jennings said her announcement does not mean she is giving up her challenge to the November 2006 election. A House task force ordered the Government Accountability Office to review the election. On July 27, the GAO is expected to discuss its preliminary findings with Congress. The agency expects to need until September to analyze prior state audits of electronic voting machines and related data to determine what, if any, additional tests should be conducted. A final ruling on the dispute is likely months away.
Opinions This Week
National: Tie votes
California: Voting technology, Paper ballots, Riverside County
Maine: Voting systems
Mississippi: Primary elections, II
Minnesota: Holt bill
Tennessee: Holt bill
Washington: King County elections
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Job Postings This Week
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Policy Specialist: Professional work at the level of a Policy Specialist requires technical expertise in research, analysis, and program planning gained through progressively more complex and more in-depth work over several years. The Policy Specialist in Legislative Management will handle a diverse range of tasks related to state election issues. Frequently, the work requires the employee to make presentations to other groups and to represent NCSL on elections issues. The work is performed somewhat independently within established program guidelines or project specifications; major work products are reviewed by more senior professionals or program managers/directors for quality, policy considerations, form, and substance. Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree plus five years of relevant and progressive work experience. The following work experience or some equivalent combination is preferred: at least one year of professional experience with NCSL or with a state legislature or government, two years of professional public policy experience. Specific knowledge and experience with state election administration and legal issues preferred. Up to three years of post-baccalaureate education (i.e. masters degree, advanced professional degree or doctoral degree) may be substituted for the required work experience. Salary: $2,859+ per month depending on experience. Application: National Conference of State Legislatures, Personnel/TS, 7700 E. First Place, Denver, CO 80230, Email: hr@ncsl.org, Fax: 303.364.7800. Deadline: August 10.