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Topic submitter here (and current President of the SF Elections Commission). As a software developer and open source contributor myself, I'd really like to see

Topic submitter here (and current President of the SF Elections Commission). As a software developer and open source contributor myself, I'd really like to see open source happen. But if no vendors respond to the RFI / RFP with a credible open source proposal, it will make things a lot harder. Basically, SF would have to contract to build its own system. I made this point at last week's Commission meeting here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOOoXSOtR-s&t=1h04m55s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOOoXSOtR-s&t=1h04m55s

spacecowboy_lon 11y ago
I think they should have not assumed that the solution will be software based - there are just to many risks and costs. Go back to paper ballots counted by hand.
slasaus 11y ago
Although I'm not a fan of it [0], there has been a commission to research the feasibility of electronic voting in the Netherlands. Outcome was it would not be cheaper than the current paper voting system and some fundamental parts still have to be on paper [1]. Currently they are researching the costs of implementing the proposed voting and counting machines (with human readable paper separating both machines). Also there was a preference for the software to be open source. You could get in contact with some people of the commission: https://twitter.com/cryptoron https://twitter.com/cryptoron (part of the commission, now leads the costs investigation of the new proposed machines and software) https://twitter.com/ArjenKamphuis https://twitter.com/ArjenKamphuis (part of the commission and part of the hacker movement that got eVoting machines banned in the Netherlands in 2007 [2]). [0] I don't think electronics outweigh the security of a paper based voting system anytime soon. Because of it's simplicity and transparency it's publicly verifiable in practice. Professor Halderman, who did a lot of research in electronic voting, won't expect secure electronic voting systems that can be used at large scale within the next 10 years, if ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY_pHvhE4os#t=58m55s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY_pHvhE4os#t=58m55s [1] Unofficial abstract of the commission: https://www.kiesraad.nl/sites/default/files/every-vote-counts-conclusions-and-recommendations.pdf https://www.kiesraad.nl/sites/default/files/every-vote-count... [2] http://wijvertrouwenstemcomputersniet.nl/English http://wijvertrouwenstemcomputersniet.nl/English

spacecowboy_lon 11y ago

I think they should have not assumed that the solution will be software based - there are just to many risks and costs. Go back to paper ballots counted by hand.

slasaus 11y ago

Although I'm not a fan of it [0], there has been a commission to research the feasibility of electronic voting in the Netherlands. Outcome was it would not be cheaper than the current paper voting system and some fundamental parts still have to be on paper [1]. Currently they are researching the costs of implementing the proposed voting and counting machines (with human readable paper separating both machines). Also there was a preference for the software to be open source. You could get in contact with some people of the commission: https://twitter.com/cryptoron https://twitter.com/cryptoron (part of the commission, now leads the costs investigation of the new proposed machines and software) https://twitter.com/ArjenKamphuis https://twitter.com/ArjenKamphuis (part of the commission and part of the hacker movement that got eVoting machines banned in the Netherlands in 2007 [2]). [0] I don't think electronics outweigh the security of a paper based voting system anytime soon. Because of it's simplicity and transparency it's publicly verifiable in practice. Professor Halderman, who did a lot of research in electronic voting, won't expect secure electronic voting systems that can be used at large scale within the next 10 years, if ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY_pHvhE4os#t=58m55s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY_pHvhE4os#t=58m55s [1] Unofficial abstract of the commission: https://www.kiesraad.nl/sites/default/files/every-vote-counts-conclusions-and-recommendations.pdf https://www.kiesraad.nl/sites/default/files/every-vote-count... [2] http://wijvertrouwenstemcomputersniet.nl/English http://wijvertrouwenstemcomputersniet.nl/English