Voting and Elections
by
Douglas W. Jones
THE UNIVERSITY
OF IOWA
Department of Computer Science
This material is based, in part, upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CNS-052431 (ACCURATE) from October 2005 onward
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the University of Iowa.
Index
Affiliation
Courses
Tutorials and Collections
Commentary
2024
- Election Integrity in the United States:
How Will 2024 Compare to 2020?
(official
copy)
with Hal Berghel,
IEEE Computer, 55, 131-137 (Oct. 2024)
pages 90-94.
- Suggested Principles for State Statutes
Regarding Ballot Marking Devices
Letter to the State Government Committees of the Pennsylvania
legislature, March 7, 2024. Co-signed by 19 others.
- Scan, Shuffle, Rescan:
Machine-Assisted Election Audits With Untrusted Scanners
with Sunoo Park, Ronald L. Rivest and Adam Sealfon,
Financial Cryptography and Data Security 2024,
Mar. 4-8, 2024, Willemstad, Curaço.
2023
2022
- Scan, Shuffle, Rescan: Two-Prover Election
Audits With Untrusted Scanners, Nov. 9, 2022, with Sonoo Park,
Ronald L. Rivest and Adam Sealfon.
-
Opinion: We shouldn't abandon machine-counted election ballots
in the Sunday Des Moines Register Mar. 20, 2022
(submitted draft, Mar 13).
- Letter of endorsement,
Feb. 3, 2022 (with additional endorsements added as of Feb. 11), for a
draft version
of a proposed update to New York's election laws;
more explanation of the proposed changes is
here.
As indicated in the explanatory notes, this draft is the product
of a committee effort between Doug Jones, Phil Stark and David Siffert,
orchestrated by Lulu Friesdat.
- The State of the Art in Voting Machine
Techology: Just How Reliable Are They?
(official
copy)
with Hal Berghel,
IEEE Computer, 55, 118-126 (Jan. 2022)
pages 90-94.
2020
- Five Myths About Voting Machines
(official copy),
Washington Post, Dec. 24, 2020.
- Elections are Partisan Affairs,
Election Security Isn't
(official copy)
(Nov. 16, revised Nov. 18, 2020), co-signer.
- Expert Statement on the
US 2020 General Election
(Nov. 16, 2020), co-signer.
- Statewide electoral uniformity is important, and states are running out
of time to get there
(official copy),
coauthored with Alec Yasinsac
Des Moines Register, Oct. 4, 2020.
2019
2018
- Affidavit supporting Jack Lackey
in support of a recount in the 6th Magesterial District,
Christian County, Kentucky, Nov. 19, 2018.
- Election Integrity 2018: Are We Better Off
Than We Were in 2016?
(official copy)
with Hal Berghel,
IEEE Computer, 51, 11 (Nov. 2018)
pages 90-94.
- Defending Against Election Hacking,
presentation to the Iowa State Association of County Auditors,
July 25, 2018, Iowa City, Iowa.
2017
2016
- Declaration / Great America v.
Wisconsin Dec. 7, 2016, in support of Jill Stein's effort to
continue the Wisconsin recount.
- Affidavit / Stein Petition
Nov. 30, 2016, in support of a recount
of ballots in the presidential race in Michigan.
- Affidavit / Stein Petition
Nov. 28, 2016, in support of a recount
of ballots in the presidential race in Wisconsin,
- Threats to the 2016 Election,
prepared Remarks for a
press
(tele)conference
convened by
PutinTrump.org,
at 11:00 AM CDT, Nov. 1, 2016
- Douglas Jones on Today's Voting Machines (pdf),
(official copy),
with Hal Berghel,
IEEE Computer, 49, 10 (Oct. 2016), pages 84-89.
Reprinted in IEEE Computing Edge, Dec. 2016, pages 10-15.
2012
2011
- SOBA: Secrecy-preserving Observable Ballot-level
Audit
(official copy),
with Josh Benaloh, Eric L. Lazarus, Mark Lindeman and Philip B. Stark,
EVT/WOTE'11, 2011 Electronic Voting Technology Workshop/Workshop on
Trustworthy Elections, August 9, 2011, San Francisco.
- Expert Report / Banfield v. Aichele
(No. 422 M.D. 2006) July 31, 2011, regarding use of DRE voting
machines in Pennsylvania.
2010
- Affidavit / Goldie v.
Township of Brock, Ontario December 9, 2010, concerning postal
ballots, mark-sense scanners and the need to visually inspect
overvotes and undervotes.
- Kazakhstan: The Sailau E-Voting System,
in Direct Democracy:
Progress and Pitfalls of Election Technology,
Michael Yard, Editor, IFES, 2010; pages 74-95.
- Affidavit / Warner protest in
Cumberland Co., NC Nov. 18, 2010, concerning vote flipping,
touch-screen calibration and the efficacy of summary screens on DRE
voting machines.
- Internet Voting for UOCAVA Voters --
Note on the Relevance of European Experience position paper and
Barriers to Effective Internet Voting
for UOCAVA voters
(official copy),
presentation slides,
Workshop on UOCAVA Remote Voting Systems,
Washington DC, August 6, 2010.
-
On Optical Mark Sense Scanning
(
Official Copy)
in
Towards Trustworthy Elections,
David Chaum, Markus Jakobsson, Ronald Rivest, et al,
Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 6000, 2010;
pages 175-190.
2009
- Affadavit / Thompson v. Hargett
Oct. 19, 2009, providing advice on the process for acquiring new
voting systems and discussing the merits of current alternatives.
- Affadavit / Banfield v. Cortes
Oct. 15 2009, if the state can defend itself by reference to source
code, plaintiffs must have access to that code.
- What Do We Do Next?,
slides for a panel discussion at the end of the
End-to-End Voting Systems Workshop, Oct. 13-14, 2009,
Washington, DC.
- Some Problems with End-to-End Voting
(presentation)
position paper presented at the
End-to-End Voting Systems Workshop, Oct. 13-14, 2009,
Washington DC.
- Early Requirements for Mechanical Voting
Systems
(
Official copy,
slides),
RE-Vote'09: First International Workshop on Requirements Engineering
for E-voting Systems, Atlanta, Aug. 31, 2009.
- Challenges on Voting system Certification
position statement for a panel discussion at the
Innovations in Election Technology Conference,
Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
Center for the Study of Politics and Governance,
Minneapolis, May 28, 2009.
- Affidavit / Gusciora v. Corzine
April 6, 2009, on the inadequacy of parallel testing without auditing.
2008
2007
- OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission final
report on the 18 August 2007 Parliamentary Elections in Kazakhstan
(Official copy)
published by the
Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe -
Office for Democratic Institutions
and Human Rights,
October 30, 2007.
This is a diplomatic document, individual authors are not attributed.
The 19 member
core observing team
(official copy)
was largely responsible for drafting this document;
Douglas Jones drafted sections V-C and XIII-B on electronic
voting (pages 11-13 and 24-25) and recommendations 12 through 15
(page 32).
- The Impact of Technology on Election Observation
slides for an invited talk at
VoComp 2007
Portland, Oregon, July 16-18, 2007.
- Computer Security Versus the Public's Right to Know
notes for a panel discussion on Electronic Voting Integrity,
Computers, Freedom and Privacy, Montreal, May 4, 2007.
-
Perspectives on Electronic Voting, in
From
Power Outages to Paper Trails
(author's copy),
IFES Global Electoral Organization
Conference, March 28, 2007, Washington DC.
-
OSCE/ODIHR Election Assment Mission
for the 22 November 2006 Paraimentary Election in the Netherlands
(Official copy)
published by the
Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe -
Office for Democratic Institutions
and Human Rights,
March 12, 2007.
This is a diplomatic document, individual authors are not attributed.
The 9 member
Election Assessment Mission
was largely responsible for drafting this document;
Douglas Jones and Tarvi Martens drafted the section on electronic
voting.
- Expert Declaration / Holder
et al v. McPherson et al Feb. 22, 2007. Why examination
of redundant data is useful as an integrity check.
- Expert declaration /
Americans for Safe Access et al v. County of Alameda Jan. 29,
2007 regarding the need to examine "audit logs" and other records in a
recount.
(A poor quality scan.)
- Letter on Postal Ballots
to the Colorado Senate Majority Leader and Secretary of State,
January 15, 2007.
2006
- Perspectives on Electronic Voting
A talk delivered at the Carter Center,
Workshop on Developing an Effective Methodology for Observing
Electronic Voting, November 2, 2006, Atlanta, Georgia.
Pages 1 to 4
of the workshop report
Developing a Methodology for Observing Electronic Voting,
Carter Center, Oct. 11, 2007,
are structured around on notes from this talk.
- The Trials and Tribulations of Electronic
Voting and
Voting Security, A Technical Perspective,
2 talks, presented at the University of South Carolina Cybersecurity
Symposium, October 27, 2006, Columbia, South Carolina.
- Technologists as Political Reformers:
Lessons from the Early History of Voting Machines,
presented at the
Society for the History
of Technology
annual conference, Las Vegas, October 13, 2006.
Also presentation slides.
- The Trials and Tribulations of Electronic Voting
slides for a talk presented at Ottumwa, Iowa, October 9, 2006, at the
invitation of Indian Hills Community College and the Ottumwa League of
Women Voters.
- Expert Report / Conroy et al v. Dennis
September 5, 2006. This case, decided on September 22, 2006, found
serious problems in Colorado's voting system certification process.
- Expert Declaration / Holder
et al v. McPherson et al Aug. 7, 2006. regarding the security
of the Diebold AccuVote-TSx as used in California.
(I found a press report confirming that this declaration was filed
with the court.)
- Expert Declaration / Holder et al v.
McPherson et al June 30, 2006. regarding the security of the
Diebold AccuVote-TSx as used in California.
(Substantially the same as the above, I have no record to indicate
why I prepared two such similar declarations.)
- Connecting Work on Threat Analysis to
the Real World
presented at
VSRW 06, a workshop on
Threat Analysis for Voting System Categories, June 8, 2006,
George Washington University. Substantially the same content was
presented at the League of Women Voters 2006 Convention
Caucus on Electronic Voting, June 10, 2006, Minneapolis.
- Elections & Electronic Voting Machines
-- Technology, technologists and public policy,
slides for a talk before the IEEE Cedar Rapids Section, April 27, 2006.
- University of Iowa Student Elections:
An After-Action Report, with Robert J. Hansen (lead author) and
Tristan D. Thiede, March 31, 2006. Critical of the implementation of
instant-runoff voting in the student election.
- Letter to Douglas Kellner,
March 15, 2006; this is a followup to the material below.
- Regarding the Voting System Standards
Proposed by the New York State Board of Elections in February 2006,
submitted as public comment to the
New York State Board of Elections, February 24, 2006; this is
a followup to the material below.
- OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission final
report on the 4 December 2005 Presidential Election in Kazakhstan
(Official copy)
published by the
Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe -
Office for Democratic Institutions
and Human Rights,
February 21, 2006.
This is a diplomatic document, individual authors are not attributed.
The 17 member
core observing team
(official copy)
was largely responsible for drafting this document;
Herman Ruddijs and Douglas Jones drafted section VI on electronic
voting (pages 9-10) and recommendations 15 through 19 (pages 28-29).
- Regarding the Voting System Standards
Proposed by the New York State Board of Elections in December 2005,
submitted by
Larry Rockefeller
as public comment to the
New York State Board of Elections on their
draft standard, January 23, 2006.
- Regarding the Optical Mark-Sense
Vote Tabulators in Maricopa County
prepared for the Arizona Senate
Government Accountability and Reform Committee,
Jan 12, 2006.
2005
2004
- Affadavit /
Yost v. National Voting Rights institute Dec. 15, 2004 regarding
the Presidential recount in Ohio, Triad Election Systems and Hocking
County.
- Reducing the Trusted Base
(pdf)
position statement for the NAS CSTB panel:
A Framework for Understanding Electronic Voting,
Washington DC, December 9, 2004.
- Evaluation of Voting Systems (PDF), with
P.L. Vora, B. Adida, R. Bucholz, D. Chaum, D.L. Dill,
D. Jefferson, W. Lattin, A.D. Rubin, M.I. Shamos, and M. Yung,
Communications of the ACM, 47, 11 (Oct 2004)
page 144.
- Statement to the Congressional
Black Caucus,
covered by CSPAN,
Oct 7, 2004, and
supplementary followup comments.
- Auditing Elections
published in
Communications of the ACM, 47, 10 (Oct 2004)
pages 46-50.
- Misassessment of Security in Computer-Based
Election Systems,
Cryptobytes 7, 2 (Fall 2004).
- The European 2004 Draft E-Voting Standard:
Some critical comments, posted to the web, Sept 29, 2004.
- Voting System Transparency and Security:
Comments on the Sept 20 hearing
submitted to the EAC Technical Guidelines Development Committee,
Sept 23, 2004.
- Voting System Transparency and Security:
The need for standard models
Testimony before the EAC Technical Guidelines Development Committee,
National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Gaithersburg, MD, Sept 20, 2004.
- Observations and Recommendations on
Pre-election testing in Miami-Dade County (PDF), Sept 9, 2004.
- Parallel Testing: A menu of options
prepared for the Miami-Dade County Elections Department, Aug 12, 2004.
- Miami-Dade County Elections Department
Logic and Accuracy Test, August 31 2004 Primary Election
prepared for and then revised by the Miami-Dade County Elections
Department, Aug 13, 2004.
- Declaration / Soubirous v.
Riverside Aug. 10, 2004, that those who request a recount should
be given access to "all relevant materials" including audit logs,
records of pre-election tests and records of the chain of custody
of machines and election results.
- Confusion of Myth and Fact in Maryland
(PDF), July 18, 2004.
- Fair Elections under Military Occupation
A modest proposal.
- Recommendations for the Conduct of Elections in
Miami-Dade County using the ES&S iVotronic Syste (PDF),
June 7, 2004.
- On Mark-Sense Scanning (PDF), presented at
DIMACS
Workshop on Electronic Voting -- Theory and Practice,
Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, May 27, 2004.
- Elections: Where We Are and Where We Must Go
Written comments addressed to the Election Assistance Commission,
May 5, 2004.
- Electronic Voting is Hard to Certify
position statement for the
NAS CSTB Workshop on Software Certification and Dependability,
Washington DC, April 20, 2004.
- To the election officials of the State of Iowa
position statement presented to the Iowa State
Association of Counties, Des Moines, Iowa, March 17, 2004,
at the invitation of Iowa Secretary of State Chet Culver.
- Strengths and Weaknesses of Voting Systems
II Inter-American Meeting on Electoral Technology, Panama City, Panama,
March 1, 2004.
(illustrations used for the talk.)
-
To the concerned citizens and elected officials of the State of Ohio
[PDF], Feb 26, 2004. A response to questions from legislators and
legislative staff in Ohio.
- How Safe is our Voting System"
Cornell College, Mount Vernon IA, January 8, 2004.
2003
-
Evaluation of Voting Technology Chapter 1 of
Secure Electronic Voting by Dimitrius Gritzalis,
Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.
- Why trustworthy voting systems
require institutionalized distrust
First Symposium on Building Trust and Confidence in Voting Systems,
National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Gaithersburg, MD, Dec 10, 2003.
- The Diebold AccuVote TS
Should be Decertified,
USENIX Security Symposium, Washington DC, Aug 6, 2003.
- The Case Against the Diebold AccuVote TS,
USACM Workshop on Voter-Verifiable Election Systems,
Denver, July 28, 2003.
- Comments on the IEEE Draft Voting System Standard,
posted July 27, 2003.
- The Case of the Diebold FTP Site,
posted July 21, 2003.
- E-voting: Are our defenses
adequate to defend citizen rights?
International Telecommunication Union Workshop on challenges,
perspectives and standardization issues in E-Government,
Geneva, June 6, 2003.
-
Letter to California Secretary of State Kevin Shelly
[PDF], Mar 20, 2003. A response to statements made to the
ad hoc committee on DRE voting technology.
2002
- Human Factors in Voting Technology, an Ethical Response,
Council on Government Ethics Laws, Ottowa Ontario, Sept. 30, 2002.
- Handicapped Access to Mark-Sense Ballots,
Invention disclosure, Sept 8, 2002.
- Trustworthy Systems on Untrusted Machines,
Workshop on the Future of Voting Technology in a Networked Environment,
Atlanta Georgia, June 4-5, 2002.
- Testimony before the
Federal Election Commission,
Washington DC, April 17, 2002.
- Added Comments on the FEC Voting System Standards
Feb. 10, 2002.
- 2002 Workshop on Election Standards and Technology
Washington DC, Jan. 31, 2002.
- Comments on the FEC's Dec. 13, 2001 Draft Voting System Standard
Jan. 29, 2002.
2001
- Comments on the Help America Vote Act of 2001
- National Conference on Governance
Washington DC, Nov. 17, 2001.
- Comments on the FEC's July 10, 2001 Draft Voting System Standard
July 13, 2001.
- Colloquium Slides
U of Iowa CS department, June 14, 2001.
- Testimony before the
House Committee on Science,
Washington DC, May 22, 2001.
(The record of the oral testimony at this hearing is House Science Committee
publication number
107-20).
- Presentation to the League of Women Voters,
Iowa City, May 16, 2001.
- Comments on the Iowa Election 2000 Report
- Response to "Internet Voting is no 'Magic Ballot'
posted to comp.risks, Mar. 21, 2001.
- Receipts for Voting Machines
posted to comp.risks, Jan. 29, 2001.
- Seminar outline
U of Iowa ECE department, Jan 25, 2001.
- Testimony before the
United States Civil Rights Commission,
covered by CSPAN,
Talahassee Florida, Jan 11, 2001.
Followup submitted to the
United States Civil Rights Commission,
Feb 15, 2001.
2000
- Election Reform in Iowa;
slides for a presentation to the National Conference on Governance,
National Civic League, Nov. 17, 2000, Washington, DC.
- Thoughts on computers in voting
posted to comp.risks, election day, 2000.
- E-Voting -- Prospects and Problems
presented at the Tau Beta Pi 31st Annual Paul D. Scholz Symposium,
University of Iowa, April 13, 2000.
- A Critique on the California Internet Voting
Task Force Report of January 2000,
Mar. 20, 2000, revised Apr. 12, 2000.
Web Sites
Government
Non Governmental Organizations
Voting Machine and Voting Software Vendors (alphabetical)
The usual disclaimer: Inclusion in this list does not constitute an
endorsement. If your favorite vendor is not listed, drop me a line and I'll
include it.
Academia
Activists
Historical
Build your arcane vocabulary:
Psephology is the study of political elections.
As of
Jan 16, 2006, Google found 1,300
links to this collection of material from outside the University of Iowa,
this compares to
372 on Nov 8, 2004, and
279 on Dec 15, 2003.
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