[IP] more on elections

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: L Jean Camp <ljean@ljean.com>
Date: June 9, 2006 11:41:48 AM EDT
To: dave@farber.net
Subject: Re: [IP] more on elections

Gosh, maybe we should design and buy systems that are suitable for  
the partisan under-funded volunteer-staffed election system that we  
_have_.

There must be some reason not to do this, because so many people buy  
machines and then try to redesign the entire practice of democracy to  
fit the machine. Then declare the failures "not technical".

Here are some proposed best practices from a couple of years ago:
•	The Power of Hybrid Electronic-Paper Voting Systems
Paper and electronic systems each have unique and potentially  
complementary strengths. Electronic systems can provide fast counts,  
suitable ballots, and ease the vast logistics problems of voting.  
Paper provides auditable counts, ease of use, and voter confidence.  
Emphasis on accurate vote counting must be balanced with speed – a  
tally can be quick or rigorous, but not both.

•	Focus on The Human Element
With improved technologies, the people who administer elections  
matter more, not less. More training, additional incentives and  
improved remuneration for poll workers is needed immediately.

•	Technically Appropriate Processes
Processes should be designed to address the unique strengths and  
weaknesses of particular voting systems. Process design should assume  
that failure will occur and address the possibility of failure before  
an election. There should  be agreed-upon rules for resolution of  
uncertainty before the conflict occurs.

None of these are rocket science.

Or just continue to design for fairy land and then hope nothing bad  
occurs. If something bad occurs call it "not a problem with the  
system" because it's "not technical". Not technical - just part of  
core requirements assumptions.

harrrumph.

-Jean




On Jun 7, 2006, at 12:32 PM, David Farber wrote:

> From: Steven Hertzberg <stevenstevensteven@gmail.com>
> Date: June 7, 2006 12:27:09 PM EDT
> To: dave@farber.net
> Cc: lynn@ecgincc.com
> Subject: RE: [IP] elections
>
> Yes, we are seeing this situation across the entire country.  We're  
> trying
> to understand how much of this failure is due to the skill of the  
> Pollworker
> - their acumen with the technology, the training they receive, or the
> machine reliability itself.  Right now, we don't have a really good  
> handle
> on this.



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