Definition and Advantages of Electronic Voting Systems

managing it in government, business & communities
Chapter 10 - Concerns and Solutions on Electronic Voting Systems Adoption
Managing IT in Government, Business & Communities
by Gerry Gingrich (ed) 
Idea Group Publishing 2003
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Definition and Advantages of Electronic Voting Systems

In a traditional on-site election, voters must register and identify their qualification before voting in the desired elections. During the election time, voters are required to cast their ballots in specific booths. The most commonly used voting device is the punch card machine (Posner, 2001). Each ballot is processed through this machine. A card is put on a tray, and the voter punches a hole next to the candidate's name to select this candidate. Then this card is dislodged and the "chad" falls to the bottom of the tray (Posner, 2001). The card is placed in a machine that counts votes by beaming light through the holes. If the light cannot go through the hole, this vote will not be counted.

Obviously, this method has many problems, though it has been in use for a long time. The 2000 presidential election in Florida State provides strong evidence. Many voters complained that they were misled by the "butterfly" ballot, i.e., the name of the candidates are listed on the both sides of the ballot rather than on only one side (Posner, 2001). In many cases, a chad from a punched hole may accidentally remain dangling from the ballot so that this particularly vote is not counted correctly by the tabulating machine. That is the main reason that, although many voters participate in the elections, their ballots are not accurately counted. Booth location is another problem. Ideal booth location would provide convenient access to all voters, but this is not the case in practice. The inconvenience of accessing voting booths results in low participation during political elections. In addition, mechanical machines do not guarantee ballot-counting accuracy. To correct the situation through manual recounting introduces more problems. Americans will not forget the confusing, complex, and resource intense recount that took place in Florida. This event lead to numerous other investigations and accounts detailing other instances of improper election procedures.

In an attempt to remedy this problem, governments have begun to utilize information technology to provide more convenience to voters and greater integrity to the voting process. According to the Ney-Hoyer bill (H.R. 3295, "Help America Vote Act of 2001," passed by the House of Representatives in December 2001), jurisdiction is supplied $2.65 billion over three years to improve voting services, such as about $400 million of this to fund the replacement of punch card machines nationally, and poll worker training (Done, 2002). The distinguishing features of EVS are developed to solve the problems integral to the current voting mechanism.

An EVS is defined as a voting system based on electronic technology, which enables remote voting and facilitates official administration and counting processes. In response to the increasing demand for electronic voting, a number of companies have successfully developed EVSs and have put them into practice. Table 1 lists some example products (Electronic Voting Hot List, 2001). Currently, there are several mechanisms of EVS: telephone-based, Internet-based, and touch screen based.

Table 1: Principal EVS Products

Vendor

Product

Function

Diebold

Diebold voting system

Used in Brazil government for voting

Election.com

Elecpro

Used in 2000 Arizona Democratic Presidential Election, which is the first online voting

Hart InterCivic

eSlate electronic voting system

A Direct Record Electronic (DRE) system

VoteHere.net

Non-binding online voting system

Used in Arizona and California governmental voting, friendly new user interface

American Arbitration Association

Telephone voting system and online voting system

Use advanced telephone voting system

Elex Voting Systems

Touch screen voting system

Manufacture the touch screen voting system

By utilizing advanced networking and information technology, different mechanisms of EVS provide many common advantages to the public and to the government. These advantages are presented in the remainder of this section.

Efficiency

Voter registration information is valuable for governments to track participation statistics among the population. According to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), voting procedures should be arranged to ensure the accuracy and currency of voter registration rolls and assist governments in increasing voter registration and participation (Done, 2002). EVS can meet these requirements perfectly by significantly improving the speed and accuracy of voter registration transactions. Traditionally, all voter information is recorded manually. Each year, this information may change significantly due to change-of-address, death, birth, etc. These changes result in time-consuming manual work. Even so, mistakes and duplicate records commonly occur. By using EVS, especially online registration, data input and maintenance work can be radically reduced. Once the information has been input into a central system, it is a simple matter to make required demographic changes in the system.

High accuracy and efficiency in registration brought about by high technology will not only reduce manual work, but may also encourage voters in the 18-to-20-year age bracket to participate, by simplifying the process and eliminating tedious registration work. In the first online Arizona Democratic presidential preference election at Arizona, roughly 62 percent of currently unregistered voters expressed their intention to register online (Done, 2002).

Efficiency is also impacted by revisions to the ballot casting process. As ballots are cast electronically, they could be quickly and automatically transferred from each remote machine to a central storage repository. Time and labor spent in allocating ballots and investigating and supervising the voting process will be greatly reduced, if not eliminated. Meanwhile, by using EVS, officials can accurately count electronic ballots and report the results to the public right after checking and confirmation. Thus, Americans will not suffer for months anxiously waiting for the final result of their election, and the integrity of this democratic process will be restored.

With well-designed user interfaces, voters could clearly understand those functions and follow the instructions. A good EVS would provide several opportunities for voters to change their minds until they finally confirm their selection visually or audibly. Thus, an EVS provides a reliable way to prevent possible misunderstandings and selection errors.

Moreover, efficiency can further enhance communications between citizens and selected officials. By using EVS, elections can be held more frequently. Increasing communications between government officials and citizens make the officials aware of citizens' requirements better. Thus, those officials can well-represent the opinions of their constituency. Effective elections also monitor officials' performance. Periodic polling could easily be facilitated and public officials could be held more accountable for their actions.

Cost-Saving

Usually, several booths are opened in each county to serve an election. The expenses incurred from running these booths, including labor costs to maintain machines and assist registration, costs of reserving booths and parking spaces, and other utilities, are significant.

When voting goes electronic, these figures quickly go down. Because an EVS supports remote voting, the government need not choose specific locations for citizens to cast their ballot. After remote voting is implemented, automobile emissions could be significantly reduced. The Web site administrator for each state's Internet portal could accommodate an additional voter/polling function relatively easily (Symonds, 2000).

Though the initial investment for replacing all the old voting machines with hardware, software, and other devices is not marginal, a long-term perspective suggests that regular election costs will be much lower. As the two major mechanisms, telephone-based and computer-based EVS, could serve as basic EVS devices, it is realistic to suggest that most voters could make full use of these widely available systems without incurring additional expenses. A report says about 88 percent of adults 18 or older access the Internet at home to send email (Associated Press, 2001). The continuous drop in the price of computers further makes online voting practical. Some newly developed internet-ready devices can be purchased at around $300 (Symonds, 2000). As telecommunications infrastructure has been quickly established in the U.S. and most European countries, the Internet transmission fee through cable or telephone is relatively cheap (Symonds, 2000). Hence, it would be sensible for government to make necessary investments to move to electronic voting in order to save more money in the long run.

Convenience

As remote voting can be effectively supported by EVS via telephone, computer or other electronic device, voters can cast their ballots at any time and any place. The wealth of well-organized, policy-related information available on the Internet may lead to a greater citizen awareness of the activities of government and background information on candidates. An EVS can provide 24-hour voting service via the Web during the election period. Without the restriction on location, the physically challenged have perhaps the greatest to gain from convenience. These conveniences will increase the enthusiasm and, subsequently, the participation of the citizens in political activities. Also, there is considerable evidence that political knowledge is positively related to political participation. About 72 percent of adults, including two in three who do not use the Internet, believe that e-government will make a valuable contribution to participatory democracy (The Council for Excellence in Government, 2000).

In particular, the simple matter of voter convenience will tend to increase participation. Statistics show that since the late 1980s very few young people (ranging between 18 and 20 years of age) are likely to vote. The number in this age group is about half of the number of over-60 voters. However, the younger generation is generally the most technology capable and will experience the greatest success on any Internet-related endeavor. Voting by EVS, especially online voting, can notably attract the younger generation for its simplicity and convenience. The younger generation is able to search for its own answers (via Internet) instead of having a prepared message thrown at them through organized broadcasting. More young voters registering in the Arizona online election provide good evidence to support this statement (Done, 2002). Youth are empowered and do not rely as much on the older generation to learn and acquire information and knowledge. While more and more people participate in the election, the foundation of the democratic political system is strengthened.

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Managing IT in Government, Business & Communities
Managing IT in Government, Business & Communities
ISBN: 1931777403
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 188

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