Challenges and Security in Electronic Voting

Though 2009 is an ‘off-year’ for most Federal elections, this November (like every November) is voting season for many local city and county offices, as well as a variety of state referendums.

Every voting year since 2000 (and some before) has raised the issue of voting accuracy, auditability, and security in current voting systems — particularly in electronic voting machines. The use of electronic voting machines has always been a decision of each local voting district, and so a variety of systems have been in use since the availability of electronic voting. Many districts have experimented with electronic voting, but switched back to paper ballots after counting irregularities or discovery of faulty algorithms in the systems. There is even a bill being debated in the House of Representatives that would ban all voting assistance machines that do not produce a paper ballot, primarily pushed by a group dedicated to providing ‘Voter Verified Paper Records’ in all elections.