Voting systems in the US and around the world

Source: http://www.globalpost.com

After the 2000 voting chads scandal in Florida, the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) promoted better practices in election administration and e-voting became the preferred voting method across most counties in the US. However, experimenting with digital-recording electronic (DRE) did not yield the expected results in many counties as much of the technology available at the time did not meet minimum quality standards. In practice, voting numbers did not match up to the actual number of voters, and some people reported votes “flipping” as they submitted their ticket. A few years after HAVA´s signing into a law (2002), DRE's became largely perceived as unreliable.

By the year 2006, and in light of the problems DREs faced, the US electoral commissions began opting for the optical-scanners at precincts to scan paper ballots. While the technology still presented many issues, like security flaws in tabulation and accessibility problems, at least the paper ballots offered a chance for counting or possible recounting, increasing voter confidence.

The evolution of the preferences of electoral commissions in the US has had a unique pattern. Other countries are much more homogeneous in their use of voting technology. Since the day Brasil, India, and Belgium began automating their elections, they have used DRE sytsems. Canada, Mongolia, and  the Philippines, use precinct count optical scanners.

Now, recent developments in the industry have put DREs back in the radar of those commissions planning to introduce technology based voting solutions. Under the concept of End to End E-voting, a new generation of voting machines have emerged. End-to-end auditable voting systems are those with strong tamper resistance and stringent integrity procedures. The new breed of DREs come with a printer which provides the voter with an opportunity to attest his/her vote is recorded properly.  

Since 2004 Venezuela has been using an End to End E-voting solution that prints voting vouchers. More than twelve national elections, certified by experts in the field put this South American nation in the forefront of election automation.  During the recent 2013 Presidential elections held in April, more than 80 percent of eligible voters turned out to vote. Additionally, the election result was certified after a challenge and total recount of the vote, which a 100% accuracy rate.

End-to-end implementation will lead to greater transparency, increased accuracy, greater voter confidence and turnout. Through the use of continual auditing, careful selection of field personnel, cryptographic builds, appropriate telecommunications and infrastructure, along with electoral accuracy tests and a final wrap-up audit; true and accurate results will be quickly certified. Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Georgia, are some of the nations in line to adopt E2E solutions.

Can e-voting solve the oversized ballot papers problem?

Source: i.usatoday.net

While most major elections around the world feature no more than five major parties, it is not unheard of for a poll exercise to have a whole slew of parties slugging it out for votes.

In Australia, for instance, a total of 46 parties have already registered for the Australian Senate election in September. If the 11 additional applicants up for consideration are approved, that would bring to 57 the number of parties on a single ballot.

Given this scenario, it’s most likely that the ballot paper will measure an incredible 1.02 meters wide or over three feet across.  This makes the supersized ballot paper quite unwieldy not only for voters, but also for election staff who must handle, pack, transport, count and secure the extra large papers.

To make matters even worse for voters, the ballots use extra small six-point type.  The Australian Electoral Commission, in fact, is even issuing magnifying sheets to help staff and voters read the text on the ballots. The oversized ballots would also take much longer to count manually, as the staff would inherently have to spend more time reading and recording each of the votes.

                                               

Aside from problems an over-sized ballot causes on Election Day, it also entails many logistical challenges as the ballots must be properly secured and transported, and requires a much larger space than regular-sized ballots.

Yet as with most problems in this modern age, there is a technological solution to this particular challenge. For instance, Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines use voting pads which could display an infinite number of candidates, rendering supersized ballots unnecessary as voters could record their vote on a touchscreen display.   

E-voting is definitely a step towards the right direction in making elections more efficient and transparent.  Safeguards like the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), where the machine prints out a confirmation receipt, ensure that the voter’s true intent is what is recorded on the ballot. After all, transparency and accuracy can never be sacrificed for efficiency and speed. 

E-voting is not without its challenges and concerns, yet its many benefits make it increasingly attractive to election commissions all around the world. More work is needed, but e-voting can be a viable solution to the problem of supersized ballot papers in cases like this in Australia.