Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Election administrators push failed systems

Elections administrators responsible for the failed 2000 and 2004 elections have written a report. In it they make some positive recommendations, but they lose credibility when they push systems that are not secure, not accurate, and not verifiable.

Elections insiders seem to be insensitive to the need for transparency. Their introverted view of the election process ignores or prevents effective accountability and independent oversight.

Click to read: ELECTION 2004 - Review and Recommendations by The Nation’s Elections Administrators. http://www.electioncenter.org/frontdocs/Task%20Force%20Report%20Book%202005.pdf

Note the lack of attention to key issues such as:

  1. How do voters verify that their vote is recorded correctly?
  2. How do political parties, contestants, and the public verify that every voter gets to vote once, every vote is counted once, and that every ballot is secure and anonymous?
  3. How do political parties, contestants, and the public independently verify that voting equipment and processes are certified, secure and accurate?
  4. How do political parties, contestants, and the public independently verify that vote counting is secure and accurate?

It is not appropriate for the public to trust election officials. Every element of an election must be verifiable and open to public scrutiny.

Non-transparent elections and un-accountable officials must be stopped.