Date: Thu Jun 17 2004 - 21:19:12 CDT
Venezuela is going to use paper trail voting machines. Below is a
description of the system manufactured by Olivetti in italy. The
first
part of the article is about the histroy of the machine,
followed by a more
detailed break down of the voting process and
components. In a nutshell the
machine itself sounds similar to the
indian one, using a purpose-built ,
simple button interface and a
remote operator to activate it for each vote.
However it has a screen
so presumably can create much more complicated
ballots
The bigger difference is that the machine prints a voter verified
ballot that the voter deposits in a ballot box. For privacy the voter
folds the paper in two--to me this sounds like it is a full sized
cut-sheet printer and not a tape printer. The primary electronic votes
are stored on internal memory cards and counted both locally by the
machine itself and at central station where they are transmitted by
encrypted phone connection. They have not yet decided how or when the
paper will be counted but that is under discussion.
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that
Doesn't Fit
VHeadline.com Venezuela
http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=21605
Questions laid to rest about reliability of SmartMatic voting
machines
in upcoming presidential recall referendum
Referendum: Voting Machines Leave Paper Trail
by Radio Nacional de Venezuela
translated by
Philip Stinard
SmartMatic president Antonio Mujica laid to rest all questions
about
the
reliability of the SmartMatic touch screen voting
machines to be used
in the
August 15 presidential recall
referendum. Mujica fielded questions in a
Sunday night interview
conducted by Ernesto Villegas on Venezolana de
Television (VTV).
The machine is very portable, which facilitates their logistics
(movement and setup) during electoral processes, indicated
Mujica. The
fourth generation machines weigh about six
kilograms, and have a touch
screen to register the vote
electronically. The machine also prints a
paper record that
allows the process to be audited. The machines
internal
electronics were designed from the beginning specifically for
electoral events, with security features dedicated to electoral
processes.
Mujica refuted rumors appearing in the private media that these
machines have been used only for lotteries. This machine was
made by
Olivetti. We subcontract to that company, which uses its
factories in
Rome to manufacture these machines. Among many
other things, Olivetti
makes machines used for lotteries. This
seems to be the source of that
rumor.
Mujica explained that demonstration machines will be set up
throughout
the country at commercial centers and plazas, and the
National
Elections
Council (CNE) will conduct an educational
campaign.
20,000 machines will be set up the day of the recall referendum,
and
1,000 replacement machines will be on stand-by should they
be
necessary.
All machines will be guarded by Plan
Republica. Each machine is
registered with the National
Totalization Center, so that if an
unregistered machine tries to
connect to the system to add votes, it
will be detected and
rejected.
Differences between these and past voting machines
Mujica indicated that these machines are completely different
from the
third generation machines used by the CNE in past
elections. Third
generation machines use hand ballots, and
afterward, the machine reads
the ballot with an optical scanner.
That technology has a very
important
intrinsic problem, and
that is, when one introduces the ballot, the
machine makes many
errors. He confirmed that the old machines failed to
read
between 5 and 15 percent of the ballots, which created dangers in
counting the votes. The new machines avoid that by permitting a
direct
vote from the screen.
The voting process
As is the tradition in Venezuela, the voting table president will
sit
at
the table with the rest of the electoral officials,
with the electoral
notebook (registry) and the ballot box. The
officials will be kept
separate from the actual voting machines
to keep the voting secret.
Step 1: The voter arrives at the table and presents his ID card
to the
president of the table.
Step 2: The president searches the notebook for the voter, and if
he is
in the registry, the voter is permitted to sign and stamp
his
fingerprint in the notebook, indicating that he exercised
his right to
vote. The president holds the card while the person
votes. Up to this
point, the procedure is the same as for
traditional voting.
Step 3: At this point, the president pushes a button connected to
the
voting machine, which unlocks it, and authorizes the voter
to cast his
ballot. When the button is pushed, the machine emits
an audible tone
that allows everyone, members of the voting
table and witnesses, to
know
that the machine has been
activated for a person to vote.
Step 4: The voter proceeds to the machine to register his vote.
The
machine must be located in an area that allows the vote to
be cast
secretly, as the Constitution ordains. The machine can
be on the other
side of a partition, or in a security booth.
Step 5: The voter presses the part of the screen that corresponds
to
the option that he supports in the referendum. The screen
will have the
referendum question, two squares with the options
Yes and No (if
thats how the referendum question is set up), and
a square at the
bottom of the screen labeled Vote to register
the vote. The voter must
press one of the two voting options,
and the square selected will be
highlighted. At this moment, the
voter could still change his vote by
pressing the other option,
and can change as many times as he likes.
Step 6: Once the voter has settled on an option, he must push the
square
labeled Vote to register his decision. Upon pressing
Vote, a sound
will be emitted, telling the people at the voting
table that the voter
has finished the process. At this point, a
physical record of the vote
is printed out.
Mujica explains, The physical vote is a paper that records all of
the
data of the event: CNE, 2004 Referendum. It also has a code
for the
voting center location, the table, and the volume
(electoral notebook).
It has a security code, which is very
important to avoid falsification.
This is all printed on
security paper along with the question, and the
voters response.
Step 7: The voter takes the paper and- confirms that the question
and
the vote registered are correct. He folds the paper in half
to
guarantee
privacy, returns to the voting table, and puts
the paper ballot in the
ballot box in front of the table members
and witnesses.
Step 8: The table president returns the voters ID card. The card
is
marked with indelible ink, and the voter is allowed to leave.
Problems and contingencies
Mujica explained that 40 engineers have been working for more
than two
years to solve problems and contingencies (what would
happen if?),
coming up with a troubleshooting guide. 2,500
possible contingencies
have been identified, and for each one
there is a response so that the
voting process is not altered.
The voting center will have one or more operators who receive the
machine in the morning and set it up, and disconnect it at the
end of
the day. Furthermore, they will provide services should
something go
wrong with the machine. These are SmartMatic
officials, and not CNE
officials. Their bosses will be the
election table members, and the
operators cant do anything
without asking and receiving permission.
Should a machine be damaged after registering votes, the machine
operator will call the SmartMatic main office and ask for an
immediate
replacement. There will be 1,000 CANTV trucks
throughout Venezuela with
1,000 replacement machines. The trucks
carrying replacement machines
will be escorted by Plan
Republica. There is a security procedure to
exchange the
machines, and a removable memory so that the votes from
the
damaged machine can be transferred to the new machine.
The new system of removable memory is different from the previous
system
of flash cards that created much controversy. The new
memory system is
inside the machine, and cannot be manipulated
without opening the
machine. The machines can only be unlocked
and opened using a key, and
only the operator holds the key for
that particular machine. The
memories are removed only if the
machines are damaged (and must be
placed in the replacement
machine).
Questions:
Villegas: What would happen if someone pushed the button to
activate
the
voting machine, and there wasnt a voter yet?
Mujica: The machine would wait for a specified length of time (a
minute
in the case of the test machines), and if someone didnt
arrive, the
machine would automatically deactivate. Upon
deactivation, the machine
would print a paper indicating The
time limit for voting has expired.
Ask for help from a table
member. In those cases, the voter would carry
the paper to a
table member, who would have to press the button again
to
activate the machine and give the voter another opportunity to
vote.
Villegas: And if they push the button and someone comes up to the
machine without permission? Or, if the table president pushes
the
button
twice?
Mujica: In the first case, that would be bad. A vote would be
recorded.
This machine makes it difficult, compared to
previously used systems,
to
cast votes fraudulently or with
bad intentions. But, it doesnt prevent
everything. Someone could
press the button twice (allowing a person to
vote twice), for
example. For that reason, table members and witnesses
must be
alert. In this case, the voter would have two papers, or would
appear in the electoral notebook as if he had already voted,
which
would
permit the detection of fraud.
In a manual system, its very easy to falsify votes, whether it be
through the results lists (acta mata voto), or card stuffing. In
the
machines used previously by the CNE, it was more difficult
to use
fraud,
but one of the means (that could be used) was
to fill out a series of
voting cards at home, carry them to the
voting centers, and create a
diversion so the witnesses left.
Then the person could put the card
into
the machine to
register a fraudulent vote. The old machines were always
open to
receive votes. This machine, on the other hand, is always
closed
to receive votes, and one can only vote when the table
president, in
the
presence of table members and witnesses,
activates it.
Villegas: And if the electricity goes out?
Mujica: The machines are connected to a power source that permits
them
to operate for up to 16 hours. The elections process wont
last that
long.
Villegas: Could the paper run out?
Mujica: The machine can print up to 2,000 paper receipts, but
that many
people will never vote on one machine. We estimate
that there is one
machine for each 600 voters. At each voting
center, there will be
several machines operating, because one
machine is assigned for each
table and volume. Each machine has
a specified number of voters
assigned
to it, so after this
number is reached, the machine will not permit
more
votes to
be cast.
Manual counting
The machine has two systems of counting: the electronic count
that the
machine does automatically, and the physical count of
the receipts that
the machine prints and are kept in ballot
boxes.
Mujica explained that the CNEs Totalization Center receives the
electronic count. At the end of the voting process, the machine
counts
all of the votes and prints a count of the votes, from
which we can say
how many Yess and how many Nos, and how many
total votes were cast. A
count is printed out, with space for
all of the table members and
witnesses to sign. Seven copies of
the count are printed out so that
all
of the political
parties can have a copy, as well as CUFAN (Unified
Command of
the Armed Forces).
The machine is connected to the CNE and will send the machines
total
count in electronic format, as well as each and every one
of the votes
with their value, to the CNE Totalization Center,
where all of the
votes
(from all machines) will be added up
to give the results for those
famous partial bulletins until the
final result is arrived at.
There will not be regional totals. Since the presidential
referendum is
an event of national character, the totalization
will be completed by
the National Elections Board (JNE) at the
National Totalization Center
in Caracas. The recall referenda
for National Assemblymen will have
regional totals, Mujica
added.
Immediate audit
The receipts deposited in the ballot box are another copy of the
vote
that can be used to audit the process. When asked if the
papers will be
counted the same night as an audit, Mujica
replied that the one who
decides that is the CNE, not us. That
is one of the strong discussions
taking place at this moment,
the so-called auditoria en caliente
(immediate audit), and I
wouldnt like to go into details now,
especially because
different people have different ideas of what that
means. Whats
certain is that physical votes will be there, and they can
be
audited against the electronic results.
If there are any contradictions, undoubtedly these (paper) votes
could
be used for a recount and to compare the results with the
electronic
ones. Mujica indicated that the technology is the
most transparent in
the world, and expressed hope that other
companies would take advantage
of this technology.
The software
Mujica indicated that the machines software is certified by three
distinct and independent groups at the company: the development
group,
the data group, and quality assurance. Then, the software
is presented
to the CNE for certification and to verify that no
votes are already
registered in the machines.
An image of the software is created to be loaded into each one of
the
20,000 machines. For each machine, one CNE member certifies
that the
software in the machine is correct, and that no votes
have been
registered. A count, called the zero count, is printed
out and the
machine is placed in a sealed box. Then, the
machines are taken to the
voting centers.
At the voting centers, table members and witnesses assure that
the
machines arrive without any broken seals. If seals are
broken, a
replacement machine must be requested.
If the seals are good, the operator opens the box, removes the
machine,
installs it, and prints another zero count to certify
that there are
no votes stored in the machine. Then, the actual
voting can take place.
Transferring the information
Mujica indicated that the information will be transmitted to the
CNE
via
telephone lines, or in some cases, by satellite,
always in encrypted
form. The encrypting is extremely rigorous,
with a public/private key
of 128 bits, the strongest that
exists. To break this code to change
the
data for just one
machine would take a gigantic computation center more
than 24
hours, using all of its computational power.
No one, not even CANTV, will have access to see or modify the
data.
This is the same encryption used by New York banks to
transfer million
dollar amounts to banks in Hong Kong through
public telecommunications
networks, and thats something that
happens every day in the world, and
there have been only a
couple of cases in the past 40 years of data
being intercepted.
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Venezuela's voter verified paper trail machines
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