IFES Consultant
Poland, May 14, 2000
When we talk about Election Systems we are talking about a very broad topic, it includes many areas that would be impossible to cover in 30 minutes. For such reason today I will restrict my presentation to summarize emerging technologies in three major subjects:
1. Registration and Identification process,
2. Voting Process, and
3. Results Transmission and Final Tally process
We must remember that the primary function to use technology is to process reliable data and produce accurate reports and other elections information.
Today the registration process has evolved from a manual process to a fully automated system integrating demographic and biometric data in a common Data Base, regardless of what registration system you may be using, whether continuous or periodic registration.
Biometrics are those characteristics that an individual has, that will differentiate him from another individual and permit positive identification when required. Biometrics are divided in two groups:
Physical Biometrics
Fingerprints
Hand and Finger Geometry
Hand Vascular Patterns and Bone Structure
Facial Geometry and Thermal Patterns
Eye Retina Patterns and Iris Patterns
DNA
Behavioral Biometrics
Voice Prints
Signature Image and Dynamics
Keystroke Dynamics
The use of electronic capture of photo, signature and fingerprints has become a common tendency by many countries that need a positive identification process for the individuals that register to vote.
This tendency has been seen as an appealing solution to the integration of different databases from other Government Institutions into a Common Unique Identification System and centralized Data Base.
Depending on the resources and infrastructure of the Election Institution, the implementation of technology for registration varies, from:
1. a centralized Data Base in a central site
2. to a Distributed processing system with several remote offices and distributed data bases, replicated in a common central data base.
1. Data capture
a. Capturing demographic information
b. Capturing Photos by electronic means
c. Capturing signature
d. Capture and matching fingerprints or other Biometrics
2. Information processing
a. Demographic data validation and verification
b. Fingerprint Matching
i. Initial matching – one to many
ii. Positive Identification – life scan one to one
3. Id card production and Issuing
4. Voter lists production
a. Lists with demographic data and photo
b. Ability to produce updated lists at any time
1. Central Office
2. Remote Sites
3. Transportable Units (Microsoft Kits in Albania refugee camps for Kosovars)
Electronic Voting comes in deferent flavors; therefore two persons may be talking about electronic voting and could be talking about two deferent subjects. In some cases you vote directly on a machine, or you could vote by using a paper ballot and using the machine to counts your votes.
We could divide this subject in three:
a. Are big, heavy and very difficult to move
b. Tend to be reliable but the use of punch cards makes it obsolete
c. Are the most costly to purchase but should give substancial savings in ongoing operating costs.
d. The greatest shortcoming, shared by mechanical lever machines, is that they lack an absolute record of individual voter’s choices.
e. Types of DREs
i. INTERNET Voting
ii. ATM Voting
iii. Touch Screen Device Voting
With all types of systems, the acquisition cost of a complete system can be dramatically affected by these four factors:
a. Whether precinct or central tabulation is selected
b. The jurisdiction size
c. The expertise of the elections-office staff
d. The features that are desired
a. Measures the vendor takes to reduce errors in newly created software
b. Measures to reduce the time and efford needed to use the software in preparing for elections
c. User friendliness
a. A complete system can be dramatically affected by uncareful management of the election process from start to finish.
b. Management and security is your primary responsibility, not the vendors.