| Election reform conference examines voting technology, computer security BY ADRIENNE FRANK Are U.S. elections getting better or worse? That was the question posed to dozens of scholars and policy makers from across the country last Wednesday, during an event hosted by AU’s Center for Democracy and Election Management (CDEM). Throughout the day, participants debated the accomplishments and shortcomings of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, focusing on everything from identification requirements to voting technology to computer security. 
Photo by Jeff Watts
From left, Avi Rubin, Johns Hopkins University; Herb Lin, National Academy of Sciences; James Fallows, Atlantic Monthly; and Dan Tokaji, Ohio State University, discuss voting technology. The daylong conference was the second in a series of forums sponsored by CDEM’s Project on U.S. Election Reform. The project was formed to promote 87 recommendations made last year by the Commission on Federal Election Reform, cochaired by former president Jimmy Carter and former secretary of state James Baker. “The consensus was that America is likely to face grave problems in the conduct of its elections in 2006 and 2008,” said Robert Pastor, vice president of international affairs and CDEM director. “While there have been some significant reforms since the debacle of the 2000 election, most of the problems have not been solved, and many new ones have emerged, partly because of the shift toward electronic voting and partly because Americans are paying more attention to their voting machines and finding that they are not working very well. “In fact, it appears that GE spends more time and resources verifying its washing machines and the State of Nevada regulates more stringently its gambling machines than the nation does its voting machines,” Pastor continued. Last week’s event featured eight panel discussions. Participants included Roy Saltman, author of The History and Politics of Voting Technology; Eric Fischer of the Congressional Research Service; Doug Chapin of Electionline.org; and Curtis Gans, director of AU’s Center for the Study of the American Electorate. During the afternoon session on voting technology, panelists advocated a voter-verified audit trail to ensure voting machines are secure and reliable. “From the public’s perspective, no election system will be trustworthy without a receipt—the equivalent of what you get from the ATM machine or gas pump,” said James Fallows, Atlantic Monthly political correspondent. “There must always be a tracing mechanism.” |
