ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS What’s Happening in Florida? Bugs in Computerized Voting Michael I. Shamos, Ph.D., J.D.

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS What’s Happening in Florida? Bugs in Computerized Voting Michael I. Shamos, Ph.D., J.D. Co-Director, Institute for eCommerce Carnegie Mellon University

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Voting System Certification Computerized voting systems must be certified in each state before use (and/or purchase, offer for sale) Certification by examiners –Inspect, test voting systems –Make recmmendations to Secretary of State I have been an examiner since 1980 –Pennsylvania –Texas –Delaware –West Virginia –Nevada EXAMINED EVERY VOTING SYSTEM EVER SUBMITTED > 100 SYSTEMS. MORE THAN HALF FAIL TESTIFIED AGAINST PUNCHED-CARD VOTING SUPERVISED CLARK COUNTY REEXAMINATION OF SEQUOIA PACIFIC DRE SYSTEM ADVISED LEGISLATURE ON ELECTRONIC VOTING STATUTE

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Constitutional Review Presidential elections: “Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress.” U.S. Const. Art II, §1Art II, §1 “The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.” U.S. Const. Art II, §1Art II, §1 Tuesday after the first Monday in November 3 U.S. §1.3 U.S. §1 If no winner on election day, “the electors may be appointed on a subsequent day in such a manner as the legislature of such State may direct.” 3 U.S. §2.3 U.S. §2

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Constitutional Review Electors vote for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. Electors send results to the President of the U.S. Senate. Votes are counted in the presence of the Senate and House. “The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President.” “If no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representatives from each State having one Vote.” IF FLORIDA DOES NOT APPOINT ELECTORS BY DECEMBER 15, GORE WINS

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Electoral College Procedure Electors must be chosen 6 days before the Electoral College meets. 3 U.S. §5. (In 2000 this is December 12)3 U.S. §5 “The electors of President and Vice President of each State shall meet and give their votes on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December.” 3 U.S. §7. (In 2000 this is December 18) 3 U.S. §7 January 6: “The Senate and House of Representatives shall meet in the Hall of the House of Representatives at the hour of 1 o'clock in the afternoon on that day, and the President of the Senate shall be their presiding officer.” [electoral votes opened] 3 U.S. §15. 3 U.S. §15 Objection to electors: 5 minutes debate per legislator; maximum total: two hours. 3 U.S. §17.3 U.S. §17

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Voting Jurisdictions Voting in the U.S. is conducted by the states –50 states + DC –Supervised by Secretaries of State –Delegated to counties 3042 counties in the U.S. 250,000 precincts > 1,000,000 poll workers

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Federal Election Comission Role of the FEC in voting in the United States None! The FEC enforces campaign financing laws assists states with voter registration

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Functions of a Voting System 1. Present candidates and issues to the voter (HCI) 2. Capture the voter’s preferences (HCI) 3. Transport preferences to counting location 4. Add up the vote totals (tabulation) 5. Publish the vote totals (reporting) 6. Provide audit mechanisms But: vote must be secret

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS History of Ballots From Italian ballotta, meaning “little ball” Ancient: clash of spears, balls in urns, division by groups, wooden tickets (tabellæ) American colonies: voting aloud to public official 1857: Australia introduces secret paper ballot 1888: Australian ballot introduced in U.S. (KY, MA) 1892: Mechanical lever machine to “protect mechanically the voter from rascaldom” 1960s: Punched cards 1970s: Optical scan 1978: Direct-recording electronic systems 2000: Internet voting in primaries

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Balloting Methods (1996 Election) Paper (1.7%) Mechanical lever voting machine (20.7%) Punched-card (37.3%) Mark-sense (24.6%) Direct-recording electronic (DRE) (7.7%) Internet (trials in several state primaries) SOURCE: FEC.GOVFEC.GOV

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Ballot Issues Straight-party voting Vote-for-many Overvotes Undervotes Write-in votes Absentee ballots Challenged ballots Spoiled ballots Invalid ballots Disabled access, e.g. audio ballots

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Paper (1.7%) Ridiculous! –Requires manual counting –Easy fraud –Ballot stuffing –Invalidation SOURCE: TOMPKINS COUNTY, NYTOMPKINS COUNTY, NY X OVERVOTE CANCELS VOTE FOR MAYOR

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Mark-Sense, Optical Scan (24.6%) Scanning methods –Visible light –Infrared Issues: –Dark/light marks –Some scanners require carbon-based ink –Voter intent may not be captured by machine Machine does not see what the human sees

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Punched Card (37.3%) CHAD POSITIONS 4, 20, 60, 82, 117 ARE PUNCHED NO CANDIDATE NAMES ON CARD STUB FOR WRITE-INS REGISTRATION HOLES HOLES NOT ALWAYS RECTANGULAR

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Punched-Card Problems Can’t see whom you’re voting for Registration of card in ballot frame Must use stylus: no positive feedback on punch Hanging chad: chad that is partially attached to the card –How may corners? –Hanging chad causes count to differ every time Dimple: chad that is completely attached but shows evidence of an attempt to punch –Dimple can turn into a vote on multiple readings

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Buchanan Vote by County (Florida, 2000) GRAPH COURTESY OF PROF. GREG ADAMS CARNEGIE MELLON & PROF. CHRIS FASTNOW CHATHAM COLLEGE SOURCE: PROF. GREG ADAMSPROF. GREG ADAMS Broward (Fort Lauderdale) Miami-Dade Hillsborough (Tampa) Pinellas (St. Petersburg-Clearwater) Orange (Orlando) LINEAR FIT WITHOUT PALM BEACH, BROWARD, MIAMI-DADE (PURPLE ANNOTATIONS ADDED)

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Administrative Issues Where does the software come from? Ballot setup, printing, distribution How are the machines stored? How are they transported? How are the ballots transported? How are they handled during counting?

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Florida Voting Procedure Elections conducted by election boards with “inspectors” and “clerks” appointed by county supervisor of elections If more ballots are received than the number of people who voted, ballots are randomly destroyed until the correct number is obtained! F.S. §102.061F.S. §102.061 “The Governor, the Secretary of State, and the Director of the Division of Elections shall be the Elections Canvassing Commission. The Elections Canvassing Commission shall, as soon as the official results are compiled from all counties, certify the returns of the election and determine and declare who has been elected for each office.” F.S. §102.111F.S. §102.111

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Voting in Florida “In case two or more persons receive an equal and highest number of votes for the same office, such persons shall draw lots to determine who shall be elected to the office.” F.S. 100.181F.S. 100.181 “The Department of State shall adopt rules to achieve and maintain the maximum degree of correctness, impartiality, and efficiency of the procedures of voting, including write-in voting, and of counting, tabulating, and recording votes by voting systems used in this state.” F.S. 101.015(3)F.S. 101.015(3) “If any ballot card... is damaged or defective so that it cannot properly be counted by the automatic tabulating equipment, a true duplicate copy shall be made of the damaged ballot card in the presence of witnesses and substituted for the damaged ballot. Likewise, a duplicate ballot card shall be made of a defective ballot which shall not include the invalid votes.” F.S. 101.5614(5)F.S. 101.5614(5)

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Florida Election Procedure ELECTION BOARD CONDUCTS ELECTION. F.S. 102.012(4)F.S. 102.012(4) COUNTY SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS APPOINTS ELECTION BOARDS. F.S. 102.012F.S. 102.012 PUNCHED-CARD BALLOTS DEPOSITED IN BALLOT BOX. F.S. 101.5608F.S. 101.5608 BALLOTS COUNTED CENTRALLY. OFFICIAL RETURN PRINTED BY TABULATING EQUIPMENT. F.S. 101.5614(8)F.S. 101.5614(8) ELECTIONS CANVASSING COMMISSION: GOVERNOR (OR DESIGNEE) SECRETARY OF STATE DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF ELECTIONS ABSENTEE BALLOT COUNTING BEGINS BY NOON AFTER ELECTION F.S. 101.68 BALLOT BOX DELIVERED TO CENTRAL COUNTING STATION. F.S. 101.5614F.S. 101.5614 POLLS OPEN POLLS CLOSED

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Florida Election Procedure CERTIFIED RETURNS FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE WITHIN 7 DAYS OF ELEC. F.S. 102.112. ELECTIONSF.S. 102.112 CANVASSING COMMISSION CERTIFIES RESULTS. F.S. 102.111F.S. 102.111 COUNTY CANVASSING BOARD PREPARES CERTIFICATES. F.S. 102.151F.S. 102.151 PROTEST TO BE FILED WITH CANVASSING BOARD BEFORE CERTIFICATION. F.S. 102.166(2)F.S. 102.166(2) MANDATORY MANUAL RECOUNT IFOUTCOME MAY BE AFFECTED. F.S. 102.166(5) CONTEST FILED WITH CIRCUIT COURT WITHIN 10 DAYS OFCERTIFICATION. F.S. 102.112F.S. 102.112 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS NAMED BY DECEMBER 12. 3 U.S. 5.3 U.S. 5 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS VOTE ON DECEMBER 18. 3 U.S. 7.3 U.S. 7 APPEAL TO DISTRICT COURT OF APPEALS APPEAL TO FLORIDA SUPREME COURT COUNT OVERSEAS ABSENTEE VOTES. F.A.C. 1S-2.013F.A.C. 1S-2.013 TUESDAY, NOV. 14, 2000 TUESDAY, DEC. 12, 2000 MONDAY, DEC. 18, 2000 FRIDAY, NOV. 17, 2000

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Election Contest The certification of election or nomination of any person to office, or of the result on any question submitted by referendum, may be contested in the circuit court by any unsuccessful candidate for such office... or by any taxpayer, respectively. The grounds for contesting an election under this section are:.... –(c) Receipt of a number of illegal votes or rejection of a number of legal votes sufficient to change or place in doubt the result of the election. … –(e) Any other cause or allegation which, if sustained, would show that a person other than the successful candidate was the person duly nominated or elected to the office in question or that the outcome of the election on a question submitted by referendum was contrary to the result declared by the canvassing board or election board.” F.S. §102.168. F.S. §102.168 Successful challenge results in a “judgment of ouster.”

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS What Happens Now? Rhetoric Recounts Challenges Contests Lawsuits Writs of mandamus Injunctions Ultimately, wait for overseas absentee votes to be counted. Ballots must have been cast by Nov. 7 and received by Nov. 17. F.A.C. 1S-2.013 F.A.C. 1S-2.013

Recounts in Florida If a candidate is defeated by 1/2% or less, the board responsible for certifying the results... shall order a recount of the votes cast with respect to such office. F.S. §102.166(3)(c). Or: candidate may protest to county canvassing boardF.S. §102.166(3)(c) “If there is a discrepancy which could affect the outcome of an election, the canvassing board may recount the ballots on the automatic tabulating equipment.” F.S. §102.166(3)(c).F.S. §102.166(3)(c) “The county canvassing board may authorize a manual recount.” F.S. §102.166(4)(c). F.S. §102.166(4)(c) “Each duplicate ballot shall be compared with the original ballot to ensure the correctness of the duplicate.” F.S. §101.5615.F.S. §101.5615

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Manual Recount “If the manual recount indicates an error in the vote tabulation which could affect the outcome of the election, the county canvassing board shall: –(a) Correct the error and recount the remaining precincts with the vote tabulation system; –(b) Request the Department of State to verify the tabulation software; or –(c) Manually recount all ballots.” F.S. §102.166(5) “Procedures for a manual recount are as follows: –(a) The county canvassing board shall appoint as many counting teams of at least two electors as is necessary to manually recount the ballots. –(b) If a counting team is unable to determine a voter's intent in casting a ballot, the ballot shall be presented to the county canvassing board for it to determine the voter's intent.” F.S. §102.166(7)

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS Certification (1) Returns must be filed by 5 p.m. on the 7th day following the... general election …. If the returns are not received by the department by the time specified, such returns may be ignored and the results on file at that time may be certified by the department. (2) The department shall fine each board member $200 for each day such returns are late, the fine to be paid only from the board member's personal funds. F.S. §102.112F.S. §102.112

ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS What’s Happening in Florida? Bugs in Computerized Voting Michael I. Shamos, Ph.D., J.D.

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ELECTRONIC VOTING NOVEMBER 2000 COPYRIGHT © 2000 MICHAEL I. SHAMOS What’s Happening in Florida? Bugs in Computerized Voting Michael I. Shamos, Ph.D., J.D.

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