Communications of the ACM
Problem at the Polls: Tech Stuck in Past
Replacing outdated voting technology is a growing imperative for election officials.
Credit: NBCNewYork.com
Election officials are facing a growing imperative to replace outdated voting technology to prepare for elections over the next decade.
Following polling difficulties in 2012, President Barack Obama formed the Presidential Commission on Election Administration to improve the process in future elections. The commission in January released a report calling for next-generation voting machines to be commercially made, software-only products.
The commission says current voting technology poses an "impending crisis" and is encouraging jurisdictions to replace existing equipment, most of which was purchased in the mid-2000s. The current generation of voting machines largely replaced punch cards and lever machines with optical scanners and direct-recording electronics.
Experts say future machines are likely to combine off-the-shelf components, including a tablet device, a printer, and an optical scanner to read the paper ballot that gets printed. However, hacking concerns and other security issues must be addressed if voting machines are to include tablets and additional electronics.
In addition, vendors are discouraged from entering the voting machine market because federal and state standards have not been updated to reflect changing technology. Nonetheless, officials in Los Angeles County and Travis County, TX, are designing voting systems, which are expected to feature an electronic machine that generates a marked paper ballot.
From The Hill
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