User as Citizen 18 October 2006

Midterm  Raw scores are on exams  Midterm counts max of 20% If grades on final are significantly better, I’ll weigh it more heavily  Formula to follow  Grade equivalents 70-75A A 65-66A B B 55-57B C C 43-49C D

Administrivia  Look for s and web announcements Grade summary Readings  At end of class today 10 minutes to fill out status report

EU Rejects SPAM Trademark Bid "The most evident meaning of the term SPAM for the consumers... will certainly be unsolicited, usually commercial , rather than a designation for canned spicy ham." -- The European Office of Trade Marks and Designs deals Hormel another blow in a losing battleThe European Office of Trade Marks and Designs (Bonus quote from the company: "Ultimately, we are trying to avoid the day when the consuming public asks, 'Why would Hormel Foods name its product after junk ?' ")

What is e-government?  Online access to government services Information Transactions  Opportunity to increase citizen participation  How government works  Question: Does e-government disenfranchise people?

Open Government  What does open government mean?  What are sunshine laws?  Why should we care?

Freedom of Information Act  The Basics The Basics  Never strongly supported LBJ signing statement  Current state Openthegovernment.org report A propaganda piece

Resources  Lots of good site E-Democracy Web tour: Key resources for community participatory decision-making & e- democracy E-Democracy Web tour E-democracy.org: Building online public space …(check the Meetup link) E-democracy.orgMeetup (non partisan, non profit)

After opening up government, then what?  Transactions  Gathering opinions

Information sought  What would you like?  What people get Recreation (50%) Road closings (25%) Health information (25%) Voting records (25%)  Self reported Believable? Could we do better? Why should we care?

Information vs. Transactions  Requirements differences Information needs to be correct Processing, not just displaying  Transactions Need to complete processing properly  Exactly once processing Require checking correctness of information entered Require security Require that user provide information  In between: availability of forms

Transactions Wanted  Address Change ONCE  Respond to jury summons  Renew driver’s license  Copies of life event certificates (birth, death, marriage, divorce)  Confirm program eligibility and apply Student financial aid, unemployment, Medicare, Medicaid, …  Passport or visa; marriage license  Employment opportunities and application  File taxes  What’s not on this list? VOTING!

How To Execute a Transaction  Save the state so you can return to it  Update each part conditionally E.g., debit and credit  If all parts succeed, commit Otherwise roll back

ATM Example 1. Verify your account 2. Subtract amount from your account 3. Give you cash 4. Give you receipt  What happens when machine stops and possibly restarts? Analyze each possible case

Transaction vs. Printing Forms  Fundamental principle: A system is only as good as its weakest link  Printing forms Posting form Printing form Filling in form Delivering form Entering information Processing information  What is the weakest link?  Examples: electronic transfers

 Supreme Ct. “Opinion” site (since 2000)Opinion” site  Public comments online: (since Jan ‘03)  Help America Vote Act of 2002 Help America Vote Act The Federal Government

 The Thomas ServerThomas Server  First Gov ( U.S. Government official portal) First Gov  Official State of NC Web Portal State of NC Web Portal  County:  Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Public documents and searchable databases

What is included in e-voting  Range of Systems Optically scanned paper Touch screen systems Internet voting  All Processes (what is the weakest link?) Registration Ballot design Voting Counting of votes Recounts

Major concerns raised  Correctness  Certification process  Digital divide  System set up  Auditing (recounts)  Accessibility  Internet vulnerability

Correctness  Should code be open source? Belief that more eyes are valuable Easier to hack  Corruption Vulnerability – improved by open source  Checking for errors that hackers can exploit Malicious changes – primarily a concern of which version is running

Certification process  More than 40 states require certification  But what does it mean? Need to guarantee certification of last minute fixes or changes – not always possible  Both California and Indiana found themselves using uncertified code

Digital Divide  More generally an e-government concern  Intimidation Could become a new literacy test  California recall Less than 1% missed (under voted) for yes/no But nearly 10% under voted in the candidate selection

System Set Up  Lack of local technical skills  Large number of local polling stations  Short set up time

Auditability vs. Privacy  Storing the full record means that someone could get at the information  Acceptable in England Secret Ballot Act of 1872 Requires that each ballot be tied to the voter Records held as a state secret

Auditing (recounts)  Voter Verified Audit Trail Print a copy Voter verifies Puts it into a ballot box  Used for Routine audits (random) Recounts  Problems Cost: Australia opted out Training

Why do an audit?  If you can only identify a problem, what is the remedy?  If audit can also produce the corrected results, more valuable

Broward County, Florida  special election to fill a state House seat  victor won by only 12 votes  137 of the electronic ballots were blank  Florida law requires a manual recount but no paper ballots recount isn't possible

Are there other options?  Code can be verified against manipulating Example: encryption within the system  But, needs to get into the system User interface is the vulnerable spot  Assuming no program errors, can we be sure that people will read a screen version correctly if they made a voting mistake?  Depends … Primarily on the quality of the ballot design

Partial Solutions  Turnout: separate track of how many people voted  Number of votes cast should match Need to count abstentions Need to track people who quit in the middle  Does not help to determine if the vote went to the right person

Accessibility  Florida ban on plastic templates with holes for use by the visually impaired because NOT CERTIFIED  How do you address this problem without compromising privacy?  How is it done today?  Generally, advocates for the visually impaired prefer electronic voting Techniques to support them, primarily audio  What about the paper audit trail?

New Mexico last year  Only two voting machines certified by the federal government for disabled and non- English speaking  Neither measures up to state law that requires voter-verified paper record Upgrade would require $1000/machine

What is included in e-voting  Range of Systems Optically scanned paper Touch screen systems Internet voting  All Processes (what is the weakest link?) Registration Ballot design Voting Counting of votes Recounts

Major concerns raised  Correctness  Certification process  Digital divide  System set up  Auditing (recounts)  Accessibility  Internet vulnerability

Correctness  Should code be open source? Belief that more eyes are valuable Easier to hack  Corruption Vulnerability – improved by open source  Checking for errors that hackers can exploit Malicious changes – primarily a concern of which version is running

Certification process  More than 40 states require certification  But what does it mean? Need to guarantee certification of last minute fixes or changes – not always possible  Both California and Indiana found themselves using uncertified code

Digital Divide  More generally an e-government concern  Intimidation Could become a new literacy test  California recall Less than 1% missed (under voted) for yes/no But nearly 10% under voted in the candidate selection

System Set Up  Lack of local technical skills  Large number of local polling stations  Short set up time

Auditability vs. Privacy  Storing the full record means that someone could get at the information  Acceptable in England Secret Ballot Act of 1872 Requires that each ballot be tied to the voter Records held as a state secret

Auditing (recounts)  Voter Verified Audit Trail Print a copy Voter verifies Puts it into a ballot box  Used for Routine audits (random) Recounts  Problems Cost: Australia opted out Training

Why do an audit?  If you can only identify a problem, what is the remedy?  If audit can also produce the corrected results, more valuable

Broward County, Florida  special election to fill a state House seat  victor won by only 12 votes  137 of the electronic ballots were blank  Florida law requires a manual recount but no paper ballots recount isn't possible

Are there other options?  Code can be verified against manipulating Example: encryption within the system  But, needs to get into the system User interface is the vulnerable spot  Assuming no program errors, can we be sure that people will read a screen version correctly if they made a voting mistake?  Depends … Primarily on the quality of the ballot design

Partial Solutions  Turnout: separate track of how many people voted  Number of votes cast should match Need to count abstentions Need to track people who quit in the middle  Does not help to determine if the vote went to the right person

Accessibility  Florida ban on plastic templates with holes for use by the visually impaired because NOT CERTIFIED  How do you address this problem without compromising privacy?  How is it done today?  Generally, advocates for the visually impaired prefer electronic voting Techniques to support them, primarily audio  What about the paper audit trail?

New Mexico this past weekend  Only two voting machines certified by the federal government for disabled and non- English speaking  Neither measures up to state law that requires voter-verified paper record Upgrade would require $1000/machine