Electronic Voting & Counting Technologies
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ELECTION TECHNOLOGY SERIES Electronic Voting & Counting Technologies A Guide to Conducting Feasibility Studies Ben Goldsmith Senior Electoral Advisor Electronic Voting & Counting Technologies Ben Goldsmith Senior Electoral Advisor International Foundation for Electoral Systems Electronic Voting & Counting Technologies A Guide to Conducting Feasibility Studies Ben Goldsmith Senior Electoral Advisor May 2011 Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Electronic Voting & Counting Technologies: A Guide to Conducting Feasibility Studies Ben Goldsmith © 2011 by IFES. All rights reserved. International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) 1850 K Street, NW Fifth Floor Washington, D.C. 20006 U.S.A. Notice of rights All rights reserved. No part of this report can be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior permission of the publisher. Printed in USA ISBN: 1-931459-64-9 Photo Credits Cover: Ripple Effect Productions Page 36: Ripple Effect Productions Garie Briones Page 51: Lean Pasion Page 1: John Lawrence Page 59: Everton Bahl Grabski Page 9: Francisco Samões Page 70: Júlio Henrique da Silva Lopes Page 17: Ripple Effect Productions Page 75: Oliver Scott-Tomlin Page 25: João Cesário ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks are due to a number of colleagues and friends who were kind enough to take the time to review and comment on the initial drafts of this guide. Special thanks are due to Susanne Caarls, Peter Erben, Juhani Grossmann, Ole Holtved, Manuel Kripp, Ronan McDermott, Vladimir Pran, Amna Qayyum and Mike Yard, all of whom provided invaluable suggestions for improvements and additional areas which needed to be covered by the guide. International Foundation for Electoral Systems i ABOUT The Author Ben Goldsmith is a senior electoral advisor with over 10 years of experience advising and managing election administration projects in post-conflict and developing democracies. Goldsmith currently serves as IFES’ chief of party in Pakistan. He manages the implementation of an electoral assistance program directed at the Election Commission of Pakistan and Pakistani civil society. In this role he focuses on issues such as improving the voter registry, election law unification and reform, training and capacity building, and the use of new voting technologies. Goldsmith has helped to conduct elections in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and the United Kingdom, including serving as the deputy chief election officer for the 2005 National Assembly and Provincial Council Elections. He has also provided technical assistance in Georgia, Egypt, Lebanon, Nepal and Pakistan. Prior to IFES, Goldsmith held electoral roles with and on behalf of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations and international non-governmental organizations such as The Asia Foundation. He holds extensive experience in a number of different regions, including Europe, South Asia and the Middle East, and has managed projects in over 20 countries. Goldsmith holds two master’s degrees from the University of Bristol: a M.Sc. in International Relations and a L.L.M. in International Law. Goldsmith has published numerous articles on elections, out of country voting and Central Asian politics. IFES The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) is the leading election assistance and democracy promotion non-governmental organization. IFES promotes democratic stability by providing technical assistance and applying field-based research to the electoral cycle in countries around the world to enhance citizen participation and strengthen civil societies, governance and transparency. Every IFES project is staffed by national and international personnel while partnering with local election management bodies and civil society organizations. This homegrown approach ensures that the expertise offered by IFES fits the needs of the country or client and the benefit of assistance outlasts the life of the project. Our work is nonpartisan and includes projects that: • Help citizens participate in their democracies • Increase politicians’ accountability to the electorate • Strengthen government institutions Since its founding in 1987, IFES has worked in 133 countries — from developing democracies to mature democracies. IFES is registered in the United States as a 501(c)3 organization. ii Electronic Voting & Counting Technologies: A Guide to Conducting Feasibility Studies Table of Contents Acknowledgements i About ii Introduction 1 Terminology 3 Benefits & Challenges of Electronic Voting and Counting Technologies 4 Electronic Voting and Counting Technology Feasibility Study 12 International Electoral Standards 17 Decision in Principle 25 The Mandate of the Study 25 The Feasibility Study Committee 27 Vendor Relations 30 Feasibility Study Committee Working Groups 31 Issue 1 — Assessment of the Current System of Voting and Counting 31 Issue 2 — Assessment of the Advantages and Disadvantages Offered by Voting and Counting Technologies 32 Issue 3 — Review of IT Security Aspects 33 Issue 4 — Determining Technical Feasibility 35 Issue 5 — Cost Benefit Analysis 37 Issue 6 — Institutional Capacity 41 Issue 7 — Legal Reform Issues 42 Study Trips 44 Vendor Demonstration 45 Stakeholder Consultation 47 Decision in Principle 48 Pilot Prerequisites 51 Pilot Project Mandate 51 Type of Pilot 51 Pilot Locations 52 Solutions Being Piloted 53 Legislation 53 Electronic Voting and Counting Technology Specification 54 Pilot Project Funding 58 International Foundation for Electoral Systems iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Pilot Project 59 Managing the Pilot Project 59 Risk Management Plan 60 Procuring Electronic Voting and Counting Technologies 61 Testing and Certification 62 Polling and Counting Procedures 63 Voter Education 64 Training 65 Stakeholder Outreach 66 Publicity 66 Election Day Support 66 Observation of the Pilot Project 67 Mandatory Audit 67 Pilot Project Evaluation 69 The Decision on Adoption 75 Additional Resources 79 Annexes 81 Annex 1 — Draft Timeline for Decision in Principle 82 Annex 2 — Feasibility Study Committee Decision in Principle Report — Table of Contents 84 Annex 3 — Suggested Briefing Pack for Feasibility Study Committee 85 Annex 4 — Example of Weighted Ranking of Vendor Proposals 86 Annex 5 — Sample Pilot Project Report Table of Contents 87 iv Electronic Voting & Counting Technologies: A Guide to Conducting Feasibility Studies Introduction Automating Elections The Philippines introduced electronic voting and counting technologies during its May 2010 national elections. n many areas of modern life today, technology dominates. It is believed that technology is Iprogress; progress is good and should, therefore, be embraced. An initial look at the field of elections may lead to a similar conclusion. Electronic voting and counting technologies are being increasingly used around the world. India, the world’s largest democracy, now uses electronic voting machines exclusively for national and provincial elections. Brazil, Belgium and the Philippines also use electronic voting or counting technologies for all of their national elections. Countries such as Estonia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Norway, Pakistan, Russia and the United States are at various stages of piloting or partially using electronic voting and counting technologies, including the use of Internet voting. Some countries, however, are moving in the opposite direction. The Netherlands, in 2008, after several decades of increasing use of electronic voting machines, decertified all of its machines and moved back to paper balloting. Germany, likewise, recently banned the use of electronic voting machines it had been using, and in Ireland €52 million1 worth of electronic voting machines were bought but only used for a small pilot project. Furthermore, the use of electronic voting and counting technologies in the United States is deeply controversial and generates fierce debate between advocates and opponents of these technologies. 1 See parliamentary debate on Irish e-voting at http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0625/D.0625.200610170016. html (last accessed on 24 January 2011). International Foundation for Electoral Systems 1 INTRODUCTIONINTERNATIONAL ELECTORAL STANDARDS INTERNATIONAL ELECTORALINTRODUCTION STANDARDS How are we to reconcile these very different The factors that argue approaches to the suitability of electronic for or against the use of voting and counting technologies? For a electronic voting or counting country considering electronic voting or “ technologies in a particular counting technologies, which is the right country are specific to that approach and when is it advisable to proceed country and will have many using these technologies? different sources. The answer is, of course, that there is no electronic voting and counting technologies. one answer. The factors which may push ” Change can be unsettling, and it is crucial one nation towards an electronic voting or that stakeholders trust the electoral process. counting technology may not be present for When decisions are taken behind closed another nation, or may indicate a different doors without involving stakeholders, the solution. The challenges of moving paper rationale for those decisions will not be clear ballots around large countries