Electronic voting vendors band together

Grant Gross   Today’s Top Stories   or  Other Government Stories  

Moving to Windows Vista: The Promise, The Reality Google's Universal Search for Business Gain a faster, cheaper way to manage workload Implementing VMware Server Virtualization on Juniper Networks Infrastructure Using a High-Performance Network Backbone to Meet the Requirements of the Modern Government Data Center Implementing VMware Server Virtualization on Juniper Networks Infrastructure Virtual Reality SaaS Solutions for Remote Systems Management Mobility @ the Speed of Business Sign up to receive Government Resource Alerts

December 10, 2003 (IDG News Service) -- Six vendors of election systems have formed a trade group to address lingering questions about security and ethics in the electronic voting industry.
The six vendors, teaming with the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), announced yesterday that they have formed the Election Technology Council (ETC), which will attempt to write a code of ethics and review security best practices in the industry, members said.
"The ballot box is sacred to our American democracy," said David Hart, chairman of both the ETC and Hart InterCivic Inc. "We're now talking about sweeping changes to devices people use to vote. ... It's not surprising questions have arisen about the ability of this technology to support so heavy a responsibility. We welcome these questions, and we assert our rights as reputable, hard-working elections technology companies to answer those questions in an honest and forthright manner."
The ETC will aim for the highest ethical standard, Hart said. "The No. 1 priority of the organization is security and trust," he said.
Congress last year passed the Help America Vote Act, which provided $3.6 billion to upgrade voting systems across the U.S. But many critics have raised questions about the security of electronic voting systems, with some questioning how voting machines could be audited if voting fraud was suspected. Other critics have raised questions about the propriety of board members of Diebold Election Systems Inc., an ETC member, contributing money to the Republican Party.
In July, researchers from Johns Hopkins University and Rice University suggested that flaws in Diebold machines could be used to tamper with elections. Late this year, Diebold threatened to sue students who posted to the Internet company memos detailing questions about security in the company's voting machines. Earlier this month, the company announced that it had decided not to launch lawsuits.
A Diebold representative was in the audience at yesterday's ETC press conference, but he refused to discuss the security of his company's products, referring inquiries to a corporate spokesman.
ETC members defended the security of electronic voting, saying it is no less secure than counting paper ballots by machine. In addition, they said, electronic voting will virtually eliminate "overvoting," where a voter chooses more than one candidate in the same race and thus renders his ballot invalid. Electronic voting machines will also warn voters if they haven't voted in all places on their ballots, ETC members said.
Nearly 8% of voters who used paper ballots in Los Angeles County overvoted during California's October gubernatorial election, said Harris Miller, the ITAA's president. But only 0.3% of voters in the country who used electronic voting machines overvoted, he said. Electronic voting machines would have

Continued...
1 | 2 | NEXT  

Reprinted with permission from

IDG.net
Story copyright 2008 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

Print this Story

Send Us Feedback

E-mail this Story

Digg this Story

Slashdot this Story

"Welcome to a special IT Blogwatch EXTRA: watching bloggers' reactions to the latest spectacular development in the standards war over..." Read more... "Stephen Spoonamore offers more details on what I was trying to drive home in my recent column: Because individual votes..." Read more... Read more Government & Regulation posts or See all Blogs

Yahoo revamps calendar service MySQL cofounder David Axmark leaving Sun Banned Podcaster developer turns to hacked iPhone market More top stories...

'Clickjackers' could hijack Webcams, microphones, Adobe warns Update: AMD spins off manufacturing to cut costs, raise funds Red Hat looks to mainstream markets for growth

Health hazards for IT workers -- how that desk job wears your body down Too much junk food, too little exercise and a 24/7 tether to technology? Your body ain't happy, friend. Let us count the pains. NASA robot sends back evidence it's snowing on Mars Instruments on the surface of Mars have detected falling snow that is likely evaporating before it reaches the planet. Wall Street's collapse may be computer science's gain One positive development stemming from the collapse of Wall Street may be a boost in interest in computer science and IT careers among students who were previously interested in financial services jobs. Installing Linux apps: A few good tips Getting new software installed on Linux doesn't have to be hard, but it can differ depending on what you're installing. Windows Vista A to Z Reviews, analyses, how-tos, visual tours, hot issues and predictions about Microsoft's new OS. More Continuing Coverage After 9/11: Homeland Security Apple's iPhone Ask a Premier 100 IT Leader Bill Gates steps down BlackBerry Legal Battle Data Security Breaches Electronic Voting Firefox H-1B Visas HP's Boardroom Scandal Handheld Devices Hurricane Katrina Aftermath Microsoft Legal Issues Microsoft's Vista Open Source RFID Technology SCO's Linux Fight Sarbanes-Oxley Act Spam Voice Over IP Wi-Fi Windows Meta File Vulnerability Windows XP Service Pack 3 IT Careers 2010 Four years from now, the IT field will be a vastly different place. Will you be ready? More Special Reports Premier 100 IT Leaders 2007 Best in Class 2006 Computerworld Horizon Awards 2006 Premier 100 IT Leaders 2006 Salary Survey 2007 Best Places to Work in IT 2007 IT Forecast 2007 Premier 100 IT Leaders 40 Years of Computerworld ASPs, Take Two Best Places to Work in IT 2003 Best Places to Work in IT 2004 Best Places to Work in IT 2005 Best Places to Work in IT 2006 Business Intelligence Home Runs Business Intelligence: Smarter BI Business Intelligence: The Future of BI CRM Goes Vertical CRM: Sober CRM Career Planning Guide 2005 Careers: IT Profession 2010 Computerworld Horizon Awards 2005 Data Management: Mining for Gems Data Management: Taming Data Chaos Development: Hard-Workin' Web Sites Development: New Tools New Choices Development: The New World of Application Development Development: The Web Services Tsunami Development: Web Services Hurdles Disaster Recovery: Preparing for the Worst E-commerce Grows Up E-mail/Groupware: Big Decisions Faces of Mobile IT Forecast 2006 Global Mobile Hardware: Multiple Cores, Multiple Challenges Hardware: On-Demand Un-Hyped Hardware: The Shape of Things to Come Horizon Awards: 10 Cool Cutting Edge Technologies IT Management: Guide to Managing Vendors IT Management: Navigating Global IT IT Management: Recovery Ahead IT Management: The Future of IT IT Management: The Resourceful Project Manager Innovative Technology Awards 2004 Management: Reinventing IT Microsoft in Transition Mobile/Wireless Leaders and Laggards Mobile/Wireless: The Untethered Worker Mobile/Wireless: Tiny Gadgets, Huge Costs Network Management: Taking Control Networking: Turbulence Ahead! Networking: VoIP Goes Mainstream Operating Systems: In the Slow Lane Operating Systems: Linux Goes Global Operating Systems: Should You Nix Unix? Outsourcing: Offshore Buyer's Guide Outsourcing: Outsourcing Dangers Premier 100 IT Leaders 2004 Best in Class Premier 100 IT Leaders 2005 Best in Class ROI: Do the Math! Salary Survey 2003 Salary Survey 2004 Salary Survey 2005 Security Action Plan Security: Compliance Headaches Security: Proactive Security Security: Risk and Reward Security: Tips From Security Pros Souped-up Security Storage: Battling Complexity Storage: Cheap & Secure Data Stores Storage: Stretching Your Storage Dollars Storage: The Lean Storage Machine Storage: The New Rules of Storage Storage: The Ultimate Backup Guide Supply Chain: Missing Links Supply Chain: RFID Reality Check The Business of Security Web 2.0 Security Wireless: Wireless At Work All Zones Application Performance Zone Business Continuity Zone The File Data Management Zone Security Management Zone The SAS Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone Windows Protection Zone The Enterprise Search Zone Software as a Service Zone See your link here

Computerworld Executive Briefing: The Compliance Era Get this briefing free (a $195 value), for a limited time, courtesy of VeriSign. The new Computerworld report, The Compliance Era, explains why regulatory compliance has zoomed to the top of the IT agenda and shows how real-world IT executives are dealing with the storage, security and privacy challenges. Get this briefing free (a $195 value), for a limited time, courtesy of VeriSign. Download this executive briefing  Success Story: U.S. Intelligence Agency Download this white paper, free for a limited time, compliments of Novell! (Source: Novell) A large intelligence agency in the U.S. Federal Government was struggling with managing the vast volume of security information that crossed its networks, as well as managing this data to ensure security at all times. Using Sentinel" from Novell�, the agency now has centralized security knowledge management and can better comply with regulatory standards. Download this white paper  From Laggard to Leader: Transforming the Data Center From Laggard to Leader: Transforming the Data Center Register for this complimentary webcast today! Go to the webcast  White Papers Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Transformational Analytics: Virtualizing IT Environments Go Green with Webroot� Perimeter Security SaaS! The Trend from Unix to Linux in SAP Data Centers View more whitepapers

• Yahoo revamps calendar service
• 'Clickjackers' could hijack Webcams, microphones, Adobe warns
• MySQL cofounder David Axmark leaving Sun
• More top stories 

Storage Networking World Users hope storage consolidation will lower TCO. Read more ... See more Storage news

Eliminate SPAM, Gain Productivity Learn all about the dangers and the costs of spam in all its forms – from stock-touting to spreadsheet. Also, understand the drawbacks of traditional hardware- and software-based defenses – and the unique benefits of MessageLabs multi-layered, managed Anti-Spam solution; as illustrated by a real-world case study where MessageLabs stopped spam cold. Download this white paper now!  See more Whitepapers

• Apple 'brick' is a manufacturing process

• Microsoft grants Windows XP yet another reprieve

• Google Chrome = Dead, Google Search = Hot

Read more news 

• Bad Upgrade

• Team building activities

Read more Shark Bait 

Google's Universal Search for Business As the volume of information inside enterprises explodes, most executives recognize the importance of a Google-like search solution for business content. To this end, Google has developed Universal Search for Business, powered by the Google Search Appliance, which searches all enterprise content through one secure box. Attend this webinar to learn how your business can benefit from universal search capabilities. Register for this live webcast now! See more Webcasts