FEBRUARY 2001

 
Electronic Voting Technology —
Can We Be Spared a Repeat of Election 2000?

by Robert Bellinger

New Yorkers crank turn-of-the-century, lever-based machines, Floridians punch cards with pricks that create hanging "chads," and Oregonians plod through paper ballots. To date, no electronic voting solution has swept them out. People argue whether the failure of technology to catch on in the elections arena is economic, political or technical.

"It's probably a combination of all three," says Lorrie Faith Cranor, a senior technical staff member of AT&T Labs-Research, and a former IEEE-USA intern who has studied electoral technology reform. On the technology front, the focus on "e-voting" systems focuses on three basic solutions:

• Internet voting from the home.

• Direct-recording electronic (DRE) machines that present a user-friendly ATM-like or touch-screen interface to voters.

• Interim solutions that continue with currently available but updated punch-card ballots or optical scan systems.

The Internet—Too Tangled a Web?

Most experts agree that the Internet isn’t ready yet for "prime time" national voting. "Given the current state of insecurity of hosts and the vulnerability of the Internet to manipulation and denial-of-service attacks, there is no way that a public election of any significance involving remote electronic voting could be carried out securely," says Avi Rubin. In a report titled Security Considerations for Remote Electronic Voting Over the Internet, the AT&T Labs-Research researcher (Florham Park, N.J.) cites vulnerability in servers, the communications infrastructure, and viruses — as well as such non-technical dangers as vote selling — as factors that could undermine the sanctity of an Internet-based election process.

Cranor agrees, adding that while Internet voting might work for private organizations or even for military ballots, there are too many security concerns related to public elections for the Internet to be a feasible option in the near term.

DREs—PINs Without Chads?

Neil McClure owns Colorado-based Hart InterCivic, which produces a variety of election technology systems. While he concurs with the others that the Internet has a way to go before it could ever be considered for use in a national election, he’s convinced that DRE systems can do the job. Based on mature technologies already in use in the private sector, DREs represent a "tried and true" technology that could ensure safe and valid elections, he believes.

Cranor also believes that using DRE machines in polling places, where there is a measure of security and control over users, is a distinct possibility. In a report titled Voting After Florida: No Easy Answers, she offers some simple criteria for implementing DRE technology in the election process. "Technological systems must have the ability to provide audit trails that will be able to demonstrate that votes have not been lost or miscounted," she says. "They must also be tested for usability — using actual ballot questions prior to every election."

McClure thinks DRE systems provide the solid audit trails that Cranor is concerned about. What’s more, the need for updating voting technology and techniques has been known for a long time, he says. The only thing holding us back is the lack of a financial commitment by state legislatures and county election officials to update their systems.

With the 2000 presidential election, "that’s changed somewhat," acknowledges Cranor, but proposals put forth before Florida could cost the state $200 million. Are legislatures prepared to step up and invest in new voting systems? That’s where the politicians step in.

Craynor suggests that the engineer’s role in moving the process forward will lie in coming up with standards and technical solutions. "But they can’t work in a vacuum," she added. Any technical decisions will have to take into account economic, political and such sociological impacts as access. Rubin agrees, saying the IEEE belongs in the debate. "Technologists can educate the policymakers about the issues."

Bob Bellinger, Managing Editor of IEEE-USA News & Views, is a freelance editor based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He can be reached at todaysengineer@ieee.org.