[EL] ELB News and Commentary 12/29/11

Thu Dec 29 18:52:22 PST 2011

An update on the AALS program where Rick and other list members will be speaking on Jan. 5th at 9:00am—   

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Rick, Dan Tokaji,  Walter Mebane, and Martha Mahoney join several of the most prominent computer scientists who are also voting systems specialists to brief us on voting tech & internet voting issues at the cusp of 2012.  

The scientists selected for this event are expert in explaining in easily understandable terms the computer science and security specialists' concerns  about currently deployed voting systems and efforts to cast ballots over the internet.  They open the program at 9:00am.  

The legal experts and law professor audience will then be discussing what should follow as a legal matter from flawed voting technologies.  We hope new scholarship will ensue that will prompt courts, regulatory entities, and legislatures to assure that votes are recorded as the voter intended and "counted as cast."  For instance, over the past 2 Administrations since HAVA was enacted, DOJ has generally not investigated or enforced voting system accuracy and auditing requirements despite many instances of inaccuracies, but instead focused on accessibility and the lack of NY's speedy transition to e-voting from levers. 

The program is below.  Legal academics can obtain a speedy briefing that will allow you to wax expert and take press calls (or not ) when the election cycle rolls through your State.  
AALS Cross-Cutting Program

The Law and Science of Trustworthy Elections:

Facing the Challenges of Internet Voting and Other E-Voting Technologies  

Jan. 5, 2012           9:00am - 12:00 noon

In the heated 2012 presidential election cycle, most Americans will cast primary and general election ballots on aging computer-based voting systems built to standards that date at best from the early 2000s. At least 33 States now permit email, e-fax, or other internet transmission of voted ballots for military and civilian overseas absentee voters. 

This cross-cutting program will make high-tech election issues accessible for law professors (no previous technical expertise required!) through presentations from experts in computer science, statistics/political science, and government as well as legal scholars. The program will identify legal and regulatory issues in urgent need of attention from legal scholars in fields that include administrative law, computer and internet law, election law, legislation and the political process, and other areas.

Premier computer scientists have evaluated currently deployed electronic voting equipment, finding flawed software and an ease of tampering even by hackers with little expertise.  Yet those repeatedly confirmed scientific findings have resulted in surprisingly little effect on the voting technology approved for use.  In 2008, States that produced at least 160 electoral votes and elect substantial portions of the U.S. Senate and House used voting equipment that has received grave criticism for being easiest to manipulate in ways that may be undetectable.   In 2012, this flawed equipment will largely determine a similar number of Electoral College votes and scores of legislative seats, Federal and State. 

Panel I: Understanding Computer Vulnerabilities. Professors Andrew Appel of Princeton and David Wagner of Berkeley (both experienced in translating computer science into comprehensible insights for policymakers) will provide an overview of the ways in which computers have been integrated into the election process, explain the design flaws that can cause serious undetectable problems in election results, and identify safeguards that are essential – though largely unused -- to assuring votes are recorded and counted accurately. 

Part II: Understanding the Risks of Internet Voting For Accurate, Accessible Elections. Professor Alex Halderman (Michigan) will discuss how his team broke in, took control, and secretly re-voted ALL cast ballots for write-in science fiction characters in the District of Columbia internet voting public test in 2010. Computer scientist David Jefferson (Lawrence Livermore National Lab) will explain internet voting risks that cannot be managed in the foreseeable future with implications for national security and accurate elections. Law professor Martha Mahoney (Miami) will present her critical study of a Federal pilot internet voting project that sought to establish that the internet can transmit voted ballots in compliance with laws requiring accuracy and ballot secrecy.  Candice Hoke (Cleveland-Marshall) will identify Federal agency activities promoting internet voting and litigation that has thus far unsuccessfully sought to establish voting rights to accurate election technologies. 

Part III:  Roundtable: Legal Implications and Recommendations. Presentations and interchange among Debra Bowen (Secretary of State of California), Richard Hasen (U.C. Irvine, Law), Walter Mebane (Michigan, Political Science and Statistics), and Daniel Tokaji (Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law), on how to protect voting rights, election integrity, and national security in light of the voting system defects and risks presented in Panels I and II.  Candice Hoke and Martha Mahoney, Co-Chairs

—>  Come help sort this out legally!  All the money spent on campaigns is for naught if the election tech isn't counting accurately.  Strategies are available to ensure accurate elections even on flawed tech, but thus far have not been legally mandated…..   

Thanks, Candice 

On Dec 29, 2011, at 2:21 PM, Rick Hasen wrote:

> Thank You and Happy New Year
> 
> Posted on December 29, 2011 11:18 am by Rick Hasen
> Barring breaking legal developments (and we’ve seen an inordinate share of those in the last two weeks), posting will resume after New Year’s Day (and will be light the first week of January as I speak at AALS on Internet voting and at a panel on law blogging and argue for the City of San Diego on cross-motions for summary judgment in the Thalheimer campaign finance case).
> 
> The year ahead will be a busy one for election law, and especially for me beginning in the summer with the publication of The Voting Wars by Yale University Press.  I hope to do a mini-book tour in the fall talking about these issues before Election Day.  Also, save the date of September 14, 2012 for an exciting conference, Foxes, Henhouses, and Commissions: Assessing the Nonpartisan Model in Election Administration, Redistricting, and Campaign Finance,  at UC Irvine Law.
> 
> As the new year approaches, I want to thank my readers for their support.  Many people wonder how I am able to keep up with and report upon election law developments around the U.S. The answer is that I have many generous readers, who supply me with tips, links, and perceptive analysis which aids me greatly in the job I do here.  I could not do it without them!
> 
> I also want to thank my regular and occasional guest bloggers (especially Dan Tokaji and Justin Levitt, who regularly fill in for me when I am away) for their hard work and insightful analysis.
> 
> I also wish to thank the IT staffs first at Loyola, and now UCI, for keeping everything running smoothly.  There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work which readers do not see.  Thank you!
> 
> A happy, healthy, peaceful, prosperous 2012 election law year for all!
> 
> 

Professor Candice Hoke
Law School
Cleveland State University
216 687-2313

shoke at law.csuohio.edu

Disclaimer:  Any opinions I may have expressed are my own and do not reflect the positions of any university, State or Federal institutions, boards, or committees with which I may be affiliated, although I may wish that they did.

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