Friday, June 30, 2006
Presentation on e-Voting Trust Mechanisms WOTE - Cambridge University 2006
Presentation by John Borras, Chair of the OASIS Election Markup Language (EML) TC, with contributions from David Webber, to the Cambridge University sponsored Workshop On Trustworthy Elections (WOTE) and e-Voting techniques
The presentation discusses the work on OASIS EML and then looks at the key factors needed to use with EML XML components to deliver particularly trusted counting mechanisms.
In addition there are two papers submitted to WOTE -
1) Trusted voting mechanisms - here
2) Framework for accreditation of voting systems - here
Abstract from "Trusted Voting Mechanisms" -
Voting is one of the most critical features in our democratic process. In addition to providing for the orderly transfer of power, it also cements the citizen’s trust and confidence in an organization or government when it operates efficiently. Society is becoming more and more web oriented and citizens, used to the high degree of flexibility in the services provided by the private sector and in the Internet in particular, are now beginning to set demanding standards for the delivery of services by governments using modern electronic delivery methods.
The implementation of electronic voting would allow increased access to the voting process for millions of potential voters. Higher levels of voter participation will lend greater legitimacy to the electoral process and should help to reverse the trend towards voter apathy that is fast becoming a feature of many democracies. It is also recognized that more traditional voting methods will exist for some time to come, so a means is needed to make these more efficient and integrate them with the newer electronic methods.
In the election industry today, there are a number of different services vendors around the world, all integrating different levels of automation, operating on different platforms and employing different architectures. With the global focus on e-voting systems and initiatives, the need for a consistent, open, auditable, automated election system has never been greater.
This paper focuses on reviewing the aspects of the OASIS EML standard and shows how it can provide the facilitation for trusted electronic voting systems. Included is an assessment of the minimum functional mechanisms that ensure audit trail and crosschecking that allow verification of voting to be implemented.
The presentation discusses the work on OASIS EML and then looks at the key factors needed to use with EML XML components to deliver particularly trusted counting mechanisms.
In addition there are two papers submitted to WOTE -
1) Trusted voting mechanisms - here
2) Framework for accreditation of voting systems - here
Abstract from "Trusted Voting Mechanisms" -
Voting is one of the most critical features in our democratic process. In addition to providing for the orderly transfer of power, it also cements the citizen’s trust and confidence in an organization or government when it operates efficiently. Society is becoming more and more web oriented and citizens, used to the high degree of flexibility in the services provided by the private sector and in the Internet in particular, are now beginning to set demanding standards for the delivery of services by governments using modern electronic delivery methods.
The implementation of electronic voting would allow increased access to the voting process for millions of potential voters. Higher levels of voter participation will lend greater legitimacy to the electoral process and should help to reverse the trend towards voter apathy that is fast becoming a feature of many democracies. It is also recognized that more traditional voting methods will exist for some time to come, so a means is needed to make these more efficient and integrate them with the newer electronic methods.
In the election industry today, there are a number of different services vendors around the world, all integrating different levels of automation, operating on different platforms and employing different architectures. With the global focus on e-voting systems and initiatives, the need for a consistent, open, auditable, automated election system has never been greater.
This paper focuses on reviewing the aspects of the OASIS EML standard and shows how it can provide the facilitation for trusted electronic voting systems. Included is an assessment of the minimum functional mechanisms that ensure audit trail and crosschecking that allow verification of voting to be implemented.
# posted by DRRW @ 10:11 AM 
