| |
|
Voting takes place for a wide variety of issues, ranging from determining the next garden club officers to determining the next leader of a country. Different voting systems meet different requirements depending on the circumstances.
In 2002, in the United States, the Help America Vote Act apparently mandated the use of electronic voting in all of its states. It seems likely that such systems will be mandated across most or all democratic countries. Various advocates of fair democratic process are keen to ensure that the processes developed retain the fairness and accountability of traditional systems. Opinions vary between different groups about how this might be achieved, two such groups being Open Source/Free Software advocates and some vendors of voting equipment who believe their products are kept most secure by keeping their workings secret. Some even believe that fair electronic voting is not possible and that paper ballots must be retained.
Direct Recording Electronic
Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting systems tally votes directly to computer memory. The voting machines typically take the form of an automatic teller machine or a laptop computer.
DRE voting systems are often favored because they can incorporate assistive technologies for handicapped people, allowing them to vote without involving another person in the process. They can also offer immediate feedback on the vailidity of a particular ballot so that the voter can correct any problems.
The primary challenge with DRE voting machines is re-counting votes to verify that the computer performed its task appropriately. The Mercuri Method of electronic voting, described by Rebecca Mercuri, addresses the problem by having the DRE machine print a paper ballot that is verified by the voter before being dropped into a ballot box. The paper ballots would then be used for recounts if necessary.
David Chaum proposes a solution to the repeatability and verifiability issues that allows the voter to verify that the vote is cast appropriately and that the vote is counted. In "Elections with Unconditionally Secret Ballots and Disruption Equivalent to Breaking RSA," (Advances in Cryptology EUROCRYPT '88, .G. Gunther (Ed.), Springer-Verlag, pp. 177-182.) Chaum proposes a two-layer printout from a DRE voting machine. The layers, when combined, show the human-readable vote. The voter selects one layer to destroy at the poll and takes the other layer as a receipt, and the voter can verify that his particular vote was counted with that receipt, but the actual vote cast is thoroughly encrypted. The chief drawback to Chaum's method is that the mathematics involved are not obvious to most observers.
Another challenge for DRE systems is a requirement in some areas that the entire ballot be presented to the voter simultaneously, so the voter can "vote for President, then vote for dog catcher, then leave," according to Rebecca Mercuri in a November 14, 2003 presentation. DRE systems in those areas need particularly large screens to accomodate all the choices.
The Datavote systems tend to have higher accuracy than Votomatic machines. Votomatic machines suffer from all manner of problems related to handling the perforated cards - problems that featured prominently in the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election.
The Fox TV Network used telephone voting to determine the winner of the American Idol television talent contest. In the case of the 2003 Ruben Studdard/Clay Aiken contest, another drawback of telephone voting appeared. Viewers were asked to call a number indicating their preference, but the telephone systems, presumably two identical systems for counting votes, were operating very near capacity for the duration of the voting period. As a result, out of 24 million votes cast, Studdard "won" by only 130,000 votes.
Mark-Sense Voting
In mark-sense voting the user marks a ballot and feeds it into a ballot box. The votes may be tallied by automatic sensors at a central location or at the precinct. With precinct-tallied votes, the systems usually verify that the ballot is legitimate as they accept the ballot.Punch Card Voting
With punch card ballots, voters create punched cards to indicate their choices. There are two main kinds of systems, Datavote and Votomatic.
Datavote systems use a cutting tool and vacuum to clean away material from unperforated cards indicating the voters' choices. Votomatic machines require the voter to punch out a perforated rectangle, a chad from the card using a stylus.Internet Voting
With internet voting, people cast their ballots online. Corporations routinely use internet voting to elect their officers. Amid security concerns, the U.S. military cancelled plans to allow residents of eight states to vote online in a trial run of internet voting for overseas personnel in the 2004 presidential election.[1] Identification of voters can be a challenge, but internet voting makes it easier for people to cast their ballots than many other methods.Telephone Voting
Telephone voting allows people to call different telephone numbers to indicate preference for different options, or a voter might call one number and indicate a preference by pressing buttons in a menu system. Its main drawback is the difficulty in verifying the identity of the voter and allowing only one vote per person. Its chief advantage is the ease in getting people to participate.Six Commandments of Electronic Voting
Michael Shamos devised the Six Commandments of Electronic Voting [1]. Although stated humorously, the assertions made are intended to be taken seriously. The commandments are in order of importance, judged by statutes and willingness of election officials to compromise on the various requirements.Problems with Electronic Voting
External Links
Footnote
From Shamos' document: Recall that women now constitute a majority of the population (voting or otherwise). (back to text)