[IP] more on elections
Begin forwarded message:
From: L Jean Camp <ljean@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: June 9, 2006 11:41:48 AM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
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@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: June 7, 2006 12:27:09 PM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Cc: lynn@xxxxxxxxxxx
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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