[IP] The Next Voting Debacle?

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

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From: "steven cherry" <steven@panix.com>
Subject: The Next Voting Debacle?
Date: 1st October 2006
Time: 10:56:15 am

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• From: steven cherry <steven@panix.com>
• To: David Farber <dave@farber.net>
• Date: Sun, 01 Oct 2006 10:43:22 -0400

Dave, there's one aspect to new voting technologies that hasn't gotten a lot of attention yet: new federally-mandated statewide voting databases. Our lead news story for October concerns them.

 Steven


http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/oct06/4663

The Next Voting Debacle?
Database problems may disqualify legitimate voters in upcoming U.S. elections

The Help America Vote Act of 2002, or HAVA, has garnered most of its notoriety because it required election officials throughout the United States to replace old paper-based voting machines with controversial new electronic equipment by 2004. But there are other provisions in the law that took effect only in January 2006, and these are quietly creating their own potential for disrupting elections this November-including the 468 House and Senate contests that will determine control of Congress.

The new HAVA rules concern the databases that contain the voter rolls-and in 49 of the 50 states, if you are not on the rolls, you can't vote. Elections have often turned on the question of who gets to vote and who does not. This time around, voter eligibility will depend in large part on the contents of a number of databases, most of which have been in existence for less than a year and some of which have not been constructed in accord with the best practices of the database industry. <more>

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