Protecting Elections in an Electronic World

Publication Date: September 2006

Publisher: Brennan Center for Justice

Author(s):

Research Area: Politics

Keywords: Voting machines; Technology

Type: Brief

Abstract:

All three of the most commonly purchased electronic voting systems have significant security and reliability vulnerabilities. Few jurisdictions have implemented any of the key countermeasures that could make the least difficult attacks against voting systems much more difficult to execute. Millions of Americans with disabilities cannot vote independently and secretly on the voting machines in their precincts. The design of ballots and instructions has a large and demonstrable effect on loss of votes as a result of residual errors. The initial costs of a voting system are likely to be a small percentage of the total cost over its life-span.