Comments on: My Day as an Election Warden in Boston http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/ crypto applied to public policy Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:02:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Benlog » My Day as an Election Clerk in Santa Clara County http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-209953 Benlog » My Day as an Election Clerk in Santa Clara County Fri, 08 Feb 2008 20:06:34 +0000 http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-209953 [...] about voting equipment, and I work as an election clerk at a polling station. In 2006, I worked as a precinct warden in Boston, and before that as an election clerk in Boston and Cambridge. I’ve been asked whether I get [...] [...] about voting equipment, and I work as an election clerk at a polling station. In 2006, I worked as a precinct warden in Boston, and before that as an election clerk in Boston and Cambridge. I’ve been asked whether I get [...]

]]> By: Helen Wong http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-53997 Helen Wong Wed, 20 Jun 2007 03:57:33 +0000 http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-53997 Hello, Ben! On behalf of the Boston Election Department, THANK YOU very much for all your hard work and precious time. Before I joined the Election Department as their Language Coordinator, I was also a Warden at one of the Chinatown precincts (Ward 3, Precinct 8), so trust me, I can relate to ALL your stories. :) You have my full support, respect and admiration. Please continue to help the Boston Election Department if you can; I would really appreciate it. Thank you again for your kind words and appreciation! Sincerely, Helen Hello, Ben! On behalf of the Boston Election Department, THANK YOU very much for all your hard work and precious time. Before I joined the Election Department as their Language Coordinator, I was also a Warden at one of the Chinatown precincts (Ward 3, Precinct 8), so trust me, I can relate to ALL your stories. :) You have my full support, respect and admiration. Please continue to help the Boston Election Department if you can; I would really appreciate it. Thank you again for your kind words and appreciation! Sincerely, Helen

]]> By: Benlog » Why Boston ran out of Ballots in the Last Election http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-26676 Benlog » Why Boston ran out of Ballots in the Last Election Wed, 18 Apr 2007 21:23:03 +0000 http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-26676 [...] wrote up my experience as a Boston Precinct Warden during that November 2006 election, both in a blog post and, in greater detail, in a written report I gave to David, which apparently made it into the [...] [...] wrote up my experience as a Boston Precinct Warden during that November 2006 election, both in a blog post and, in greater detail, in a written report I gave to David, which apparently made it into the [...]

]]> By: David King http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-19960 David King Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:16:59 +0000 http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-19960 Ben, your write-up, and your other work, has been very helpful. Ben, your write-up, and your other work, has been very helpful.

]]> By: Ted Selker http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-5965 Ted Selker Wed, 15 Nov 2006 11:40:13 +0000 http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-5965 This excellent recount underscores the problems in process and the way today’s elections require the good will and compliance of everyone. ~The small amount of feedback that the mark-sense style optical scan gives about how it scaned the ballots: overvotes and jams allowed voters and poll workers to solve some problems caused by lack of vote verification that such scanning machines give. ~Such lack of feedback from the indicator based scanners beg the question of was the correct ballot used in the scanner? Were the scan marks right? The exit poll in this precinct was off by one, that could be a poll worker mistake but there is no way to know if it wasn't a person taking a ballot out of the polling place for purposes of chain voting. We should move towards scanning the image not the placement of marks relative to alignment marks and a ballot inside a machine like todays US scanners that don’t even indicate how the count. ~Losing one vote as the physical interaction did in this polling place multiplied by a few hundred polling places would give the numbers that changed races other places. ~of course the jamming in this polling place was probably not caused by hacking, if we were careful we should test the machine and its code for secret jamming software which would kick out certain ballots. ~The rule that people should check off the exit poll in anticipation of inserting the ballot for scanning might improve the user experience but the other polling place where the registration poll book entry was an acknowledgment of a completed task is more correct security protocol. If a person got the poll worker to state that they had scanned their ballot and then slipped out with their blank ballot, they could start chain voting with that ballot. Of course, an observant poll worker like Ben could catch such an activity and log the fact that the exit poll was incorrect. This excellent recount underscores the problems in process and the way today’s elections require the good will and compliance of everyone.

~The small amount of feedback that the mark-sense style optical scan gives about how it scaned the ballots: overvotes and jams allowed voters and poll workers to solve some problems caused by lack of vote verification that such scanning machines give.

~Such lack of feedback from the indicator based scanners beg the question of was the correct ballot used in the scanner? Were the scan marks right? The exit poll in this precinct was off by one, that could be a poll worker mistake but there is no way to know if it wasn’t a person taking a ballot out of the polling place for purposes of chain voting. We should move towards scanning the image not the placement of marks relative to alignment marks and a ballot inside a machine like todays US scanners that don’t even indicate how the count.

~Losing one vote as the physical interaction did in this polling place multiplied by a few hundred polling places would give the numbers that changed races other places.

~of course the jamming in this polling place was probably not caused by hacking, if we were careful we should test the machine and its code for secret jamming software which would kick out certain ballots.

~The rule that people should check off the exit poll in anticipation of inserting the ballot for scanning might improve the user experience but the other polling place where the registration poll book entry was an acknowledgment of a completed task is more correct security protocol. If a person got the poll worker to state that they had scanned their ballot and then slipped out with their blank ballot, they could start chain voting with that ballot. Of course, an observant poll worker like Ben could catch such an activity and log the fact that the exit poll was incorrect.

]]> By: Daniel Bilar http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-5841 Daniel Bilar Mon, 13 Nov 2006 14:48:58 +0000 http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-5841 Very insightful (the devil is surely in the details and little glitches) - you should consider submitting this post as an op-ed to the Boston Globe. Very insightful (the devil is surely in the details and little glitches) - you should consider submitting this post as an op-ed to the Boston Globe.

]]> By: joe http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-5714 joe Sat, 11 Nov 2006 18:03:34 +0000 http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-5714 Hi Ben, great write-up. I have a write-up of my experience running my polling place over at my blog (second story down, I'm keeping myself to one URL per comment on your blog :) ). You shouldn't beat yourself up about the one lost ballot page... in my write-up I describe accidentally letting one person who wasn't registered cast a ballot! It sounds like you might not be aware of the University of Connecticut analysis of the AccuVote-OS (which appears to be the opscan machine that you were using); it's here: <a href="http://voter.engr.uconn.edu/voter/Reports_files/uconn-report-os.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://voter.engr.uconn.edu/voter/Reports_files/uconn-report-os.pdf</a>. I'd be interested in if any of these attacks were realistic in your polling place. Hi Ben, great write-up. I have a write-up of my experience running my polling place over at my blog (second story down, I’m keeping myself to one URL per comment on your blog :) ). You shouldn’t beat yourself up about the one lost ballot page… in my write-up I describe accidentally letting one person who wasn’t registered cast a ballot!

It sounds like you might not be aware of the University of Connecticut analysis of the AccuVote-OS (which appears to be the opscan machine that you were using); it’s here: http://voter.engr.uconn.edu/voter/Reports_files/uconn-report-os.pdf. I’d be interested in if any of these attacks were realistic in your polling place.

]]> By: Pierre Adida http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-5713 Pierre Adida Sat, 11 Nov 2006 17:47:17 +0000 http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-5713 Great job, Ben, it was really a very cumbersome process and you did it with your fellow poll workers in a honest, open and candid way which forces respect. Truly to me the complexity comes from the fact that there are so many votes to express at the same time with the same ballot. And also the process of the precinct list does need to be much improved, may be using a web based central database by social security numbers and other private criteria. Of course this rises some other issues regarding privacy but... I am sure there are ways to solve it. Again, congratulations, bravo, you are now ready for the presidential elections...:))) Great job, Ben, it was really a very cumbersome process and you did it with your fellow poll workers in a honest, open and candid way which forces respect.
Truly to me the complexity comes from the fact that there are so many votes to express at the same time with the same ballot. And also the process of the precinct list does need to be much improved, may be using a web based central database by social security numbers and other private criteria. Of course this rises some other issues regarding privacy but… I am sure there are ways to solve it.
Again, congratulations, bravo, you are now ready for the presidential elections…:)))

]]> By: Eric Hanchrow http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-5687 Eric Hanchrow Sat, 11 Nov 2006 03:57:14 +0000 http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-5687 Sounds very much like my pollworker experience. Nicely written. Sounds very much like my pollworker experience. Nicely written.

]]> By: Simson Garfinkel http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-5683 Simson Garfinkel Sat, 11 Nov 2006 02:45:48 +0000 http://benlog.com/articles/2006/11/08/my-day-as-an-election-warden-in-boston/#comment-5683 Traditionally, local communities have not gone out of their way to get university students to vote. The official reason is that many of them are registered in their home districts. The real reason, though, is that they tend to have different priorities than long-term residents who make the rules. Traditionally, local communities have not gone out of their way to get university students to vote. The official reason is that many of them are registered in their home districts. The real reason, though, is that they tend to have different priorities than long-term residents who make the rules.

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