Electronic Voting: The Future of Elections in 08

Here is just a little information regarding some of the new ways in which somebody can now cast a vote. Is this what we are heading towards or does another look need to be taken in terms of security and User Interface? Find out for yourself. Here are specs on just a few of the new electronic voting machines that will be at your disposal around the country.

Diebold AccuVote TS-X Voter Information Sheet

Name/Model: AccuVote-TSx Vendor: Diebold Election Systems How To Vote On This Machine: After confirming the voter is registered, he or she is handed a “smart card." The voter then inserts the smart card into the slot on the right side of the screen. Card should be face up with the arrow pointing forward. Touch the "Start" button on the bottom, middle part of the screen to access the ballot. Follow the on screen instructions to make selections on ballot. After all selections have been made, a summary screen will appear. This screen should be carefully check to ensure that all choices were recorded correctly. If the choices DO NOT match, the voter can touch either the race in question or "Review Ballot" on the lower-right portion of the screen. If the summary screen matches the voter's intent, the the voter should then touch "Cast Vote." REMEMBER: You have the right to ask for assistance from a poll work during the voting process. If the poll worker is unable to resolve any machine-related problem you might have, do not cast your ballot on the machine. You can demand to vote on another machine or by paper.

Name/Model: ELECTronic 1242

Vendor: Guardian Voting Systems, Inc. (a division of Danaher Controls, Inc.)

How to Vote on This Machine:

1. When voters enter the precinct, poll workers confirm that they are properly registered to vote. The poll worker then uses an operator’s panel on the back of the machine to choose the ballot style appropriate for that voter.
2. The voter enters the curtains (see pictures at left above) and only the races for which they are permitted to vote are activated.
3. The voter then votes by pressing a numbered box beside each choice in each race on the ballot. It is very important that the voter does not push the large, green "Vote" button until done voting; a vote inadvertently cast may not be redone.
4. Flashing lights on the left-hand side of the ballot indicate races for which the voter has not yet voted. If the voter tries to choose more than one choice in a given race (over-voting), the machine will ignore the second choice. If the voter makes a mistake, they can press the numbered box again to deselect their choice; the indicator light will go out. The voter may then select the correct choice.
5. When done voting, the voter presses a large green “Vote” button in the lower-right corner of the voting machine.

REMEMBER: You have the right to ask for assistance from a poll work during the voting process. If the poll worker is unable to resolve any machine-related problem you might have, do not cast your ballot on the machine. You can demand to vote on another machine or by paper.

Name/Model: WINvote

Vendor: Advanced Voting Solutions, Inc. (formerly Shoup Voting Solutions, Inc.).

How To Vote On This Machine:

1. After checking in at the polling place, the voter will approach one of the terminals. An election official will activate the machine. The voter will touch the "Click Here to Start" button on the welcome screen, and the ballot-marking process will begin.
2. The screen will display one race at a time, with available choices listed below the race name. Write-in candidates can be selected by touching the "Write-In" button at the bottom of the choice list. After making a selection, touch the "Next" button on the bottom of the screen.
3. When all selection have been made, the voter will be taken to a summary screen that lists that name of each race and the option that was selected by the voter. If the voter wishes to change any of these races, he/she should simply touch the name of the race and make another selection.
4. When the voter is satisfied with the summary screen, he/she should touch the red "Next" button on the bottom-right part of the screen. The next screen has a large red "VOTE" button. After touching that button, the ballot has been cast.

REMEMBER: You have the right to ask for assistance from a poll work during the voting process. If the poll worker is unable to resolve any machine-related problem you might have, do not cast your ballot on the machine. You can demand to vote on another machine or by paper.

Here is just a brief comment in the Summary of the findings of an independent study just examining the Diebold machines in the summer of 2006. Remember that these were ready to use and approved for use prior to this examination.

This paper presents a fully independent security study of a Diebold AccuVote-TS voting machine, including its hardware and software. We obtained the machine from a private party. Analysis of the machine, in light of real election procedures, shows that it is vulnerable to extremely serious attacks. For example, an attacker who gets physical access to a machine or its removable memory card for as little as one minute could install malicious code; malicious code on a machine could steal votes undetectably, modifying all records, logs, and counters to be consistent with the fraudulent vote count it creates. An attacker could also create malicious code that spreads automatically and silently from machine to machine during normal election activities—a voting-machine virus. We have constructed working demonstrations of these attacks in our lab. Mitigating these threats will require changes to the voting machine’s hardware and software and the adoption of more rigorous election procedures.

Center for Information Technology Policy and Dept. of Computer Science, Princeton University
†Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University