RESEARCH

Smart Use of Technology in Elections
Kennedy School Conference Focuses on Technology and Elections Systems

For those who haven’t been thinking lately about the 2000 presidential election, it’s worth remembering that, according to the CalTech/MIT Voting Technology Project, between 4 and 6 billion votes were lost. Voting technologies and voter registration systems were found largely responsible for those lost votes.To tackle some of the more pressing issues surrounding the voting crisis, approximately 50 participants from state elections departments and the technology world converged on the Kennedy School this spring.

Associate Professor Jean Camp, an expert in the field of privacy and reliability in areas where technology and social issues intersect and the organizer of the conference, says her goal was to “develop a road map to a superior voting system that embeds optimal utilization of technology.”

Panel discussions served as a primer for technologists about how elections officials conduct elections and as an eye-opener to elections officials who might have been satisfied until now with their current elections technology and processes. Breakout sessions provided participants with an opportunity to speak indepth about identifying systemic voting risks, managing those risks, and communicating risks and uncertainties.

According to Camp, this conference illustrated the importance of convening experts in theory and practice in a cooperative setting, where both groups could engage in a meaningful dialogue. To read about the “best practices” report that came out of the conference, go to www.designforvalues.org/voting/bestpract.html.