Transparency and Trust in E-Voting Systems

As part of TEDxConstitutionDrive 2010, Dr. Rebecca Mercuri, one of the leading international experts on electronic voting, participated in this important TED talk about "Trust". The expert exposed interesting views on Transparency and Trust in Electronic Voting Systems, arriving to very interesting conclusions about the technology of the E-Vote.

Election with new e-voting systems: a smoother experience for New Yorkers

New York is the last state to replace lever-operated machines with electronic ones in compliance with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The state saw some problems with the unveiling of electronic voting machines in the statewide primary in September when Mayor Bloomberg was quoted as calling the glitches a “royal screw up.”

E-voting without fraud

Many defy the security of voting machines. The general public, their governments and bodys of power fear the corruptibility of the electronic voting systems.

Misconceptions about Electronic Voting

Failed attempts can give good things a bad name, especially when it comes to trying unknown and pioneering methods. Some of the myths that surround electronic voting come from failed trials that do not even represent the current technological advances. The UK made a messy, disastrous attempt at Internet-based voting via text message, personal computer, electronic kiosk, and even digital TV in 2003. That attempt was plagued by security issues, and faulty Internet connections rendered many kiosks useless on Election Day. However, most of the ambiguity regarding security issues has been addressed by a crucial feature: the Voter-Verified Paper Ballot (or VVPAT, Voter Verified Audit Trail). E-voting systems with paper ballots can support all needed security audits against fraud, just as older methods did, plus added efficiency and additional audits of their own. Here we discuss five common misconceptions hindering modern electronic voting systems.

All contenders endorsed accuracy of Venezuelan elections results

Under the light of the 2010 Parliamentary Elections, Smartmatic announced that once more its electoral solution performed with complete reliability and accuracy in Venezuela. Given the critical and close results for some seats in the contest, only an auditable and secure technological platform could guarantee the fairness and accuracy of the event.

Philippines automated elections: a model of transparency

On May 10 of 2010, more than 50 million Filipinos turned up to vote on one of the smoothest and trouble-free elections the country had ever experienced. Most importantly, it was the first nation-wide automated election conducted in the Philippines, an event where technology and democracy were put to test.

Democracy and technology: An open invitation

When Plato wrote the Republic, he never imagined that one of the systems he outlined to choose the public officers could be the seed of a much broader and complicated mechanism that will shape the destiny of any type of decision-making process that involved a majority rule: The elections.