CSC 379 SUM2008:Week 5, Debate

Direct-Recording Electronic Voting

Should direct-recording electronic voting systems be banned?

• If yes, cite the errors and crises that have occurred with electronic voting, and establish that these problems are worse than with other technologies. Argue that no backup system, paper or otherwise, can be developed to make them as reliable as other voting systems. Also, say when the ban should go into effect, and suggest what kind of systems should replace them.
• If no, argue that electronic systems, by themselves or with paper receipts or some other backup technology, can be as reliable as other types of voting systems. Or, argue that the ban would result in greater possibility of fraud, e.g., through lax ballot security. Or, argue that such decisions are best left to local election boards, which may face budgetary or training constraints.

Helpful Links

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRE_voting_machine
• http://www.acmqueue.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=219
• http://www.leagueissues.org/tutorial.html
• http://igs.berkeley.edu/library/htElectronicVoting2004-LWVUSreport.htm
• http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=3871677
• http://votingmachines.procon.org/viewresource.asp?resourceID=274

• http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=6521