more on TREK TECH (and your vote)

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

From: Ed Gerck <egerck () nma com>

[Dave: for IP, as a counterpoint]

While correctly criticizing current problems in electronic voting,
some abhor any kind of voting that is electronic, as if the only
possible outcome of such an election would be a "government by magic".
But magic, endemic fraud in paper ballots, for 200 years in the U.S.,
is exactly one of the reasons that is driving this society to develop
better solutions. In the same way that we found a way for using the
Internet to file Income Tax Returns, to buy a book, to reliably read
stock quotes and trade them, we will find ways to use the Internet
to make our vote count, with less hassle, less fraud and less cost
than today. With moderation and caution, 101 years ago a contraption
heavier than air did fly.

With public elections, usually requiring polling and tabulating
millions of votes, we have no choice but to move from art to science.
Votes need to be verified and voters are certainly one party that
can do it. However, you never want to allow the voter to take any
kind of "receipt" out of the voting station if that receipt can be
used to determine how the voter voted, e.g. by matching a number or
pattern on the ballot. No one should be able to prove how the voter
voted, not even the voter. Otherwise, you have to worry about vote
selling and coercion. I also think that there should be independent
representations of the ballot data, witnesses of the ballot as cast
by the voter, and that when these witnesses exist, they must all be
audited for consistency. This can be done efficiently with a proper
random sampling. Further, as it is already legal today in the U.S.,
voters should be able to cast their ballots at a poll precinct as
well as at home, at work, and abroad.

I believe that all of this can be done using paper and/or computers
and/or networks of computers, including cases where the network can
be the phone network and/or the Internet. Further, I believe that
using computers and networks, while there must be great caution and
moderation, has the yet unrealized potential to reduce fraud, increase
voter diversity, increase voter participation and reduce costs.

Finally, all aspects of an election need to be secure, auditable and
verifiable according to these principles. There's certainly room for
progress in voting.

Cheers,
Ed Gerck 

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