Election Experts To Discuss Major Changes To Federal Voting Machine Standards

Dec. 4, 2007 - PRLog -- WHAT:

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the UMBC Center for Information Security and Assurance (CISA), VSPR , FairVote and the National Center for the Study of Elections (NCSE) will host a workshop for voting system researchers, election officials, voting equipment manufacturers, policy makers, as well as disabilities and other advocates to discuss the proposed draft Voluntary Voting System Guidelines.

WHY:

Who will decide the future of voting technology?  During this session of Congress many bills have been introduced to reform the requirements for voting machines used in federal elections, but no bill has been passed.  In particular, there has been considerable debate about how to improve the security, reliability, transparency and usability of voting machines.  Recently the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC), a federal committee authorized by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), proposed a new federal voting system standard. If the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) adopts these guidelines as written it will represent a significant change in voting systems for the 32 states that require their voting machines to meet federal standards.  Moreover, the new standards could impose significant costs and create barriers to innovation.
WHO:

The event will feature presentations from voting technology experts, election officials, voting rights advocates and voting machine vendors who will discuss a variety of issues including voting system standards and testing, voting machine security and reliability, the role of voter-verifiable records (such as voter-verified paper audit trails), and the effect of the proposed standards on cost and innovation.

For a complete list of panels and speakers, please go to:

http://www.itif.org/index.php?id=89

WHEN:

Thursday, December 6, 2007
9:00 AM to 2:00 PM
WHERE:

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
1250 Eye Street, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20005

A teleconference option and live streaming audio will also be available.  Please indicate that you wish to participate remotely when you register and we will send you the teleconference information.

For more information, please contact Daniel Castro, 202-626-5742, dcastro@itif.org.

To register for the event, please go to http://www.itif.org/index.php?id=89

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About ITIF

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a nonprofit, non-partisan public policy think tank committed to articulating and advancing a pro-productivity, pro-innovation and pro-technology public policy agenda internationally, in Washington and in the states. Through its research, policies proposals, and commentary, ITIF is working to advance and support public policies that boost innovation, e-transformation and productivity.

Website: www.itif.org