GEM-SET

Daily Digest Archive for October 8, 2003

Q: (Initially posted on October 1, 2003) FROM STUDENT MEMBER ROBIN B. IN CA
We're about to have a gubernatorial recall election here, and one of the
issues caught up in it is about voting machines. What are the different kinds
of voting machines? Which are commonly used, the most hi-tech, the most
cost-efficient, etc? What about the most reliable? How vulnerable are they
to being manipulated to favor a particular cause or candidate? Is there any
special kind of Science, Engineering, or Technology that makes them possible?

October 10, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR NANCY WHITE IN WA
I asked one of our great volunteers and e-voting expert from Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (http://www.cpsr.org) Erik Nilsson and here are the sources he recommended:

"A list of voting equipment in use in CA is at: http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_vs.htm
This has some description of equipment types. IFES has some information on voting systems in use at http://www.ifes.org/TechSurvey/data.html.

I lay out the basic election equipment types at http://www.cpsr.org/publications/newsletters/issues/2001/Winter/nilsson.html, and present some material that might help answer questions like "what is the most reliable voting system?" But that is not a simple question. More help in the "further study" section of the newsletter: http://www.cpsr.org/publications/newsletters/issues/2001/Winter/urls.html"

If you are thinking about entering the technology field, or plan to use technology in your work and care about the implications and consequences, I encourage you to check out CPSR!

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