EFF: Voting Machine Standard Generates Controversy

[Dave Farber <dfarber () cs cmu edu>]

> Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
> X-Sender: cindy@localhost
> Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 16:12:48 -0700
> To: dfarber () cs cmu edu, declan () well com
> From: Cindy Cohn <cindy () eff org>
> Subject: EFF: Voting Machine Standard Generates Controversy
> X-Temp-Whitephrase: YES
> X-Temp-Whitelink: YES
>
> Hi Dave and Declan,
>
> I thought you might be interested in this call by EFF to have IEEE members 
> and others write to IEEE to express concerns about a flawed electronic 
> voting standard currently out to ballot.
>
> http://www.eff.org/Activism/E-voting/IEEE/
>
> We were reluctant to do this, since we have great respect for IEEE as a 
> whole.  We decided to take the issue public because this is a standard 
> that will likely control the very future of our democracy and because our 
> quieter attempts to get the IEEE to stop the balloting and listen to the 
> growing number of concerns of security professionals were unsuccessful.
>
> Cindy
>
> > Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Advisory
> >
> > For Immediate Release: Friday, September 19, 2003
> >
> >
> > Contact:
> >
> > Cindy Cohn
> >   Legal Director
> >   Electronic Frontier Foundation
> >   cindy () eff org
> >   +1 415 436-9333 x108 (office), +1 415 307-2148 (cell)
> >
> >
> > Voting Machine Standard Generates Controversy
> >
> > Electronic Frontier Foundation Advocates Secure Elections
> >
> > San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
> > today urged a technical association to stop balloting on a
> > flawed proposal for an electronic voting machine standard.
> >
> > EFF invited concerned parties to write letters to the
> > Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
> > (IEEE), requesting an electronic voting machine standard
> > that requires secure, voter-verifiable election equipment
> > and technologies that support open democratic principles of
> > governance.
> >
> > "The IEEE voting equipment standard could impact
> > dramatically the future of democratic systems in the U.S.
> > and around the world," said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn.
> > "We urge the IEEE to take the measures necessary to rework
> > the standard currently under consideration so that it
> > includes benchmarks for secure voter-verifiable election
> > equipment and addresses additional criticisms from the
> > security community."
> >
> > In the aftermath of the Florida election debacle, the IEEE
> > took up the question of standards for voting equipment,
> > creating a working group, called Project 1583, overseen by a
> > Standards Coordinating Committee known as SCC 38. Once
> > finalized, the U.S. and other governments worldwide will
> > likely adopt the IEEE voting equipment standard, especially
> > since IEEE sits on a technical advisory board established
> > by the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA).
> >
> > Members of the security community report that the current
> > standard is flawed. P1583 is largely a design standard,
> > describing how to configure current electronic voting
> > machines, instead of a performance standard setting
> > benchmarks and processes for testing the security,
> > reliability, accessibility, and accuracy of these machines.
> >
> > For example, the standard fails to require or even recommend
> > voting machine designs that permit voters to verify their
> > votes. One such method that is already available from
> > multiple election machine companies is a provision that the
> > machines produce a paper ballot for each voter that allows a
> > voter to see a summary of her votes to confirm them.
> > Agencies administering elections can the store paper ballots
> > separately so they are available for audits in the case of
> > dispute or for a recount.
> >
> > EFF is also responding to reports of serious procedural
> > problems with the Working Group P1538 and SCC 38 Committee
> > processes, including shifting roadblocks placed in front of
> > those who wish to participate and vote, and failure to
> > follow basic procedural requirements like giving sufficient
> > notice of meetings and deadlines, publishing agendas and
> > minutes, and circulating current versions of the standard
> > itself and the comments of others in a timely manner. Some
> > participants claim that representatives of the electronic
> > voting machine vendor companies and others with vested
> > interests control the working group and committee
> > leadership.
> >
> > For this advisory:
> > http://www.eff.org/Activism/E-voting/20030919_eff_pr.php
> >
> > EFF action alert on IEEE voting machine standard:
> > http://www.eff.org/Activism/E-voting/IEEE/
> >
> > Security researchers discover flaws in e-voting system:
> > http://www.eff.org/Activism/E-voting/20030723_eff_pr.php
> >
> > Previous EFF action alert on e-voting:
> > http://www.eff.org/Activism/E-voting/20030702_eff_pr.php
> >
> > EFF e-voting archive:
> > http://www.eff.org/Activism/E-voting/
> >
> > IEEE website:
> > http://www.ieee.org/
> >
> >
> > About EFF:
> >
> > The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
> > liberties organization working to protect rights in the
> > digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
> > challenges industry and government to support free
> > expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
> > organization and maintains one of the most linked-to
> > websites in the world at
> > http://www.eff.org/
> >
> >                            -end-
>
>
> --
> *********************************************
> Cindy Cohn                            Cindy () eff org
> Legal Director                          www.eff.org
> Electronic Frontier Foundation
> 454 Shotwell Street
> San Francisco, CA 94110
> 415-436-9333 x 108 (tel)
> 415-436-9993 (fax)

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