
Unless you're living in the far reaches of the Earth, you probably know that it's election season in the United States. The media's horserace coverage is already predicting a winner, but that changes depending on the day. Already, the 2008 election appears to be a close battle – one that could be decided by the thinnest of margins.
Politics, by its very nature, is controversial; however, there is one aspect that to elections that should not be: whether or not voting technology is reliable. Two recent ballot-counting controversies in American politics include the infamous Florida recount in 2000, and the 2008 New Hampshire primaries.
According to a recent Discover article, one-third of Americans will use machines that are as reliable as their home computers in November. The move from paper ballots to software-based voting systems has cleared the way for numerous dilemmas: electronic voting can be confusing, and computer programs may have bugs or even be hacked – eliminating anonymity.
The "Magical" Solution
Cryptographer David Chaum and his team are now claiming that they have the solution to voting woes. Their new system, Scantegrity II, is a security enhancement for optical scanning voting systems that allows users to verify their results. Scantegrity II uses confirmation codes and invisible ink to ensure that each vote counts. By using transparent ink, the Scantegrity II aims to detect errors and vote-alterations. Importantly, it also protects the voter's privacy.
Let's look at how it works. When casting a vote, you are handed a ballot and a decoder pen. The Scantegrity II ballot has two parts: a voting portion and a receipt. Each part of the ballot also has unique serial number. Voting consists of marking the correct bubble with the decoder pen. When a bubble is marked, the pen reveals a confirmation code inside the bubble and leaves a dark mark to be used by an optical scanner. Like other voting systems, the dark-mark detection counts the vote for the candidate whose bubble has been marked. The receipt portion of the ballot is located at the bottom, and can be used to note your confirmation codes.
Ensuring Your Vote
According to David Chaum, the serial number and invisible confirmation codes make Scantegrity II secure from fraud. The makers of this voting system also say that even if people were able to replicate the ballot itself, it would be nearly impossible to forge invisible codes to match the real ballots.
Another way to ensure that your vote was counted correctly is to write the confirmation codes on the receipt portion. Once detached, the ballot is run through the scanner – but the receipt is yours to take with you. At home, you can log online and enter your serial number. In doing this, the invisible ink codes will appear – not the selected candidates themselves, protecting your vote from hackers. If the codes on the screen match those on your receipt, then your vote was counted correctly.
I think this is a pretty neat concept. I favor voting technologies that protect privacy, and count votes correctly. America doesn't want or need to have a repeat of the 2000 vote-counting controversy in Florida.
What do you think?
- Do U.S voting machines need an overhaul?
- Will the Scantegrity II be effective?
- What other alternatives are there?
Resources:
http://www.scantegrity.org/
http://discovermagazine.com/2008/oct/04-protecting-your-vote-with-invisible-ink
http://scantegrity.org/papers/ScantegrityII-EVT.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scantegrity_II
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2004/11/the_problem_wit.html
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