E-Government is the use of technology to enhance the access to and delivery of government services to benefit citizens, business partners and employees [4]. For reference to e-Government in kingdom of Bahrain please see [64].
E-governance is the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by different actors of the society with the aim to improve their access to information and to build their capacities [65].
E-Democracy
It is neologism and contraction of electronic democracy, is the utilization of electronic communications technologies, such as the Internet, in enhancing democratic processes within a democratic republic or representative democracy. It is a political development still in its infancy, as well as the subject of much debate and activity within government, civic-oriented groups and societies around the world [5].
E-Voting
E-voting combines technology with the democratic process, in order to make voting more efficient and convenient for voters. E-voting (or electronic voting) allows voters to either vote by computer from their homes or at the polling station.
E-Voting Machines (E-voting at the polling booth)
This form of e-voting is virtually the same as regular voting, but replaces the ballot paper with electronic voting machines. These Electronic machines are backed by some computer chips to store the data (votes in this case) and can be retrieved when connected to the main network.
Acronyms
ICT: Information and Communication Technology
DRE : Direct Record Electronic
Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
Use of the Internet and other electronic devices for communication has not only become a standard for work but also for people's private lives. The facilitation of online voting will be an adaption of democratic procedures to people's need for simplicity and convenience. A more important aspect of e-voting, however, is its potential facilitation of the implementation of political rights.
1.2 Background of the problem
1.3 Need for the Study
1.4 Significance of the Study
1.5 Purpose of the Study
In the information age, it seems that the application of information technology is an indispensable tendency for the evolution of organizations in 21st century, regardless of public or private organizations. The application of information technology into public affairs briefly includes the electronic democracy, which is governance-oriented, and e-government, which is service-oriented.
E-Voting being a vital part of the services being offered by e-Government would lead the application of information technology to improve the efficiency of public sector obviously and the participation of the citizen through the electronic forum [35].
The purpose of this research is to go through the current situation of Bahrain's democracy and electoral system in context of the view point of people of Bahrain. Furthermore, one purpose to make a research in this area is to get to know the factors affecting the implementation of electronic voting in Bahrain in coming future.
1.6 Assumption of the Study
1.7 Research question
For our research work we formulated research question as follows:
Based on the effectiveness of currently employed variants of e-voting what factors can make evoting success in Bahrain?
Definitions of words from the research questions:
Effectiveness
"Ability to achieve stated goals or objectives, judged in terms of both output and impact."[19]
In the case of electoral system, effectiveness means "The power of a ballot to influence the election outcome." In my research I will focus on the replacing of paper-based voting with electronic one. So ballots will be replaced by electronic votes.
In my research I am going to measure Effectiveness with these 4 criteria:
1. Costs
Resources
investments
2. Time
casting a vote
calculation of the results
3. Results
correct results
avoiding human errors
4. Transparency
I divide users of the e-voting system in 3 groups:
1. Voters
2. Government
3. Electoral candidates
For voters these criteria of effective e-voting system are important:
time
transparency
correct results
easy-to-use system
For Government important criteria of effective e-voting system are:
cost
time
results
For electoral candidates most important criteria of effective e-voting system are:
time
transparency
correct results
Success
"An event that accomplishes its intended purpose" [20]
In case of e-voting success means being effective system to replace paper-based voting. In my research the intended purpose of the e-voting system is to satisfy the needs of the following groups of users:
1. Voters
2. Government
3. Electoral candidates
From voters perspective e-voting system will be successful if:
it will be easy-to-use system
one will be able to make fast voting and get results faster than it was provided with paper-based system (time factor)
It will not be a complicated process (transparency factor)
Systems reliability, security and objectivity will provide correct voting results (results factor)
From Government perspective e-voting system will be successful if:
price of this system will be affordable and not much sensitive for the budget (price factor)
it will be reusable with minimum costs involved and would be able to work in the long term perspective
it will provide results fast (time factor)
there will be fewer complaints from voters and electoral candidates about the procedure and results of the elections (transparency and results factor)
it will eliminate human factor errors
Form the electoral candidate's perspective e-voting system will be successful if:
they will get faster results of the voting (time factor)
they will be sure that these results of the voting are correct (results factor)
they will be able to monitor electoral process at any time (transparency factor)
1.8 Limitations
1.9 Delimitations
Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
This chapter defines, and explains the basic concepts of the Internet technology , E- Government and Democracy.
2.2 Internet Definition
Internet was invented by the department of defense, United States of America in 1960s as a communication network for defense research purposes; no one could have foreseen how it would transform society three decades later. Today, the internet has become a part of the daily life of many people around the world [23] [24].
Explosive growth in Internet usage and rapid development of e-commerce in the private sector have put growing pressure on the public sector to serve citizens electronically, which is often known as the e-government and this initiative is taken to provide public services and to empower citizens and communities through information technology, especially through internet [25] [26].
The Internet provides low-cost and efficient solutions for the exchange of information but there are serious security and trust issues that need to be addressed when dealing with sensitive government information. The use of Internet for mission-critical transactions must provide solutions to ensure that only authorized government officials have access the sensitive data. It must also address concerns about reliability, origin and integrity. In addition to the security issues, the use of Internet for critical government services must provide trust and integrity in both the data and the transactions [27].
2.3 E-Government
E-government applies concepts of electronic commerce (e.g. information and marketing through Web sites, selling to customers on-line) to government operations.
E-Government is simply defined as the use of ICT to improve the process of government. In a narrow sense it is sometime define as citizens' services, re-engineering with the technology, or procurement over the Internet [29].Digital (electronic) government is about transforming government service delivery through the use of technology [75].UN world report on public sector says that 90 percent of member countries have operational government websites [1] [30].
E-Government is the use of technology to enhance the access to and delivery of government services to benefit citizens, business partners and employees [4].
Users (Citizens) expect the same level of services from government as they have from the private sector and the government itself expects more effective, productive and improved services as the private sector is. Having this all in common the e-Government still differs in its uniqueness of its interaction between government and its users. It has different issues to cater from different disciplines [30].
2.3.1 E-Services
The use of electronic delivery for government information, programs, strategies and services can named as e-services. These are available on-line "24h/7days". It also refers to Electronic Service Delivery (ESD) and such expression as 'one-stop service centers". The latter describes situation in which citizen needs are met through a single contact with the government. In many cases it assumes a modernized front office but not necessarily redesigned back office capacity. At the same time, e-services emphasize innovative forms of citizen involvement and offer services that demonstrate serious valuation of citizens as customer of administration. The strategic challenge is to deliver services to members of public along with dimensions such as quality, convenience and cost [34].
2.3.2 E- Governance
This is the most difficult to generate and sustain feature of e-Governance. In framework of e-democracy ICT is used as an instrument to help set agendas, establish priorities, make important policies and participate in their implementation in a deliberative way. It refers to activities that increase citizen involvement including virtual town meeting, open meeting, cyber campaigns, feedback polls, public surveys and community forums (such as through e-consultation, e-voting). In short, if e-government is successfully implemented new empowered citizens may emerge.
They are able to form the Internet biased alliance to respond to various issues and achieve economic and social objectives [34].
2.3.3 E-Government Services and Stages
According to a study there are following dynamic stages through which e-Government will pass as electronic service evolving both inside and outside of the organization and when it faces the public [30]:
1. Information
Information, brochures, leaflets, downloading forms. This involves making of websites and information portals to give details of the individual departments about themselves for the public. It is widely implemented.
2. Transaction
It includes E-voting, completing forms on-line, filing taxes online, and renewing driver's licenses, applying for passports, unemployment benefit; obtaining birth certificates/marriage licenses. This is a two way communication and as per from the citizen, one is able to change the address and some other personal information required by the government in order to keep track of the citizens for their betterment. And again playing the role Government is offering information to the citizens. Some of these services are implemented
3. Integration
It includes integrating front and back-end systems across all departments to enable information sharing and a single point of access for citizens to multilayered government services. Here the gap between the front end and the back end systems are bridged to reduce the differences in between them. It is implemented in some progressive and single layer governments.
4. Transformation
At this stage there will be personalization of e-government services and a 1:1 relationship with government across all departments. This would be the most advanced version of what we have already been into; here Governments would give a full hand to the citizens to make preferences of the services being provided to them for their personal interests.
In so doing Governments would be giving more facilities and independence to the citizens and they would feel comfort of using the services within the e-Government .Not yet implemented [30].
2.3.4 Adoption of E-Government Services
The majority of e-government empirical studies from practitioners such as Accenture (An American company; provides consultancy), and international organizations such as the UN (United Nations) and OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), focus on descriptive analyses of the "state of e-government", "e-government readiness" in nations, or barriers and drivers to its implementation and advancement. From an academic perspective, empirical studies have been largely focused on deeper understanding of adoption of e-government services using Davis' TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) and TPB (Theory of Planned Behavior). Abundant empirical evidence suggests that theory of planned behavior effectively explains individual intentions and behavior in adopting new technologies, taking this in concern if we see e-government we find that it also have no exception [30].
There are two main factors influencing the adoption of e-Government services as perspectives [30]:
1. The citizen's perspective
The factors for adoption include familiarity or experience with e-services and government; ease of use; perceived usefulness; trust in the organization and service for example interacting with government on-line and the perceived safety/risk of providing information to government; perceived quality of information and service; and perceived behavioral control and subjective norms [30].
2. The Government's perspective
The barriers to adoption are the complexity of the department/agency paradigm; poor IT infrastructure; HR constraints such as lack of skilled personnel; and lack of financial resources; a reluctance and fear of sharing resources across departments and organization.
While the main drivers were strategies to improve customer satisfaction with on-line government services; customer demands for new or better services. In a report by Accenture, over 92% of government executives that responded rated superior services as a business imperative for e-government initiatives. In one instance in the US, the driver for introducing e-government was to "revolutionize" the way government departments operate internally and with citizens [30].
In general following are the services as basics of e-Government [34]:
Services for the Citizens
1. Income taxes
2. Job search
3. Social security benefits
4. Personal documents
5. Car registration
7. Declaration to the police
8. Public libraries
9. Birth and marriage certificates
10. Enrolment in higher education
11. Announcement of moving
12. Health-related services
Services for Businesses
1. Social contribution for employees
2. Corporate tax
3. Value Added Tax (VAT)
4. Registration of a new company
5. Submission of statistical data
6. Customs declarations
7. Environment-related permits
8. Public Procurement
2.4 Democracy
The term democracy indicates a form of government where all the state's decisions are exercised directly or indirectly by a majority of its citizenry through a fair elective process. When these factors are met a government can be classified as such. This can apply to a multitude of government systems as these concepts transcend and often occur concomitantly with other types [ ].In a phrase democracy is a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people." [42].
In the following discussion I am going to narrow down my scope to election process in selection of the governing people in a democratic country Bahrain.
2.4.1 A view of election in Bahrain
Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy headed by the King Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, the head of government is the Prime Minister, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa who presides over a cabinet of 15 members. At the beginning of 2001, His Majesty the King set in place the first level of the democratization agenda with the announcement of the National Action Charter (NAC), setting out constitutional rights and reforms, on which all eligible citizens, men and women, were invited to vote. The outcome was resounding 98.4 percent vote in favor of the Charter. The endorsement of the government's new proposals was incorporated in the revised Constitution, published on the same day as the declaration of the Kingdom of Bahrain, on the 14th of February 2002. On this day Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa made an announcement that Bahrain would henceforth become a constitutional monarchy.
Bahrain has a bicameral parliament, which includes the Chamber of Deputies that was elected by general referendum and the Shura Council (Consultative Council), which were appointed by His Majesty the King. Both houses have forty members. The inaugural elections were held 2002, with parliamentarians serving four year terms [43].
Bahrain went through three parliamentary elections until now :
The first parliamentary elections under the amended Constitution were held in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 2002, the participation rate in the elections was reported by the Bahraini government to be 53.2% of registered voters. People have testified to the success of the experiment on grounds of the first-rate preparation and the best use of technology [47]. International standards were adopted to ensure the impartiality and fairness of the elections.
The second parliamentary elections in 2006 for the 40-seat lower house of parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, as well as municipal elections. There was a 72% turnout in the first round of polling[92] .
The third parliamentary elections in 2010, More than 318,000 were eligible to vote [92]. Head of the electoral commission and Justice Minister, Sheikh Khalid bin Ali al-Khalifa, gave an estimate of turnout of "at least 67 percent," less than the 72% in 2006 and 53.4% in 2002[91].
Legislation and legal opinion Commission
The duty of the commission to organize and conduct the election and to make such arrangements as are necessary to ensure that the election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with law and that corrupt practices are guarded against [47].
Eligibility for membership of the Parliament
He shall be a Bahraini who enjoys all of his civil and political rights.
His name shall be listed on the voters' schedule of the constituency in which he nominates himself.
He shall not be less than thirty years of age on the day of the elections.
He should be able to read and write Arabic.
He shall not have forfeited his membership of the Shura Council or Council of Representatives by order of the council in which he was a member for reason of loss of confidence or credibility or because of violating his duties as a member. Nevertheless, a person who forfeited his membership can nominate himself if the statutory term during which he forfeited his membership has ended, or if the Council in which he was a member issues n order revoking the reason that prevents the nomination following the forfeiture of membership after the closing of the term during which the order was issued [47].
Eligibility for being a Voter
He shall be a Bahraini national.
Shall have attained 21 years of age on the date of the elections.
He shall be legally and mentally competent on the date on which the schedules were prepared and during the period allowed for the correction of schedules. A person convicted of a disqualifying crime or offence shall be barred from exercising political rights while serving his sentence.
He shall be a resident of the electoral constituency as evidenced by his Smart card. If he is living abroad, the place of his last residence shall be his electoral constituency and if he has no place of residence in the Kingdom, he will follow the place of the residence of his immediate family [47].
2.4.2 Electoral Procedure
Following is the procedure for the whole electoral procedure in Bahrain [47]:
1. Preparation of Voters' Schedules
The preparation of the voters' schedules commenced well ahead of the scheduled date of the elections. The committees produced the voters' schedules from the database of the Population Register in co-operation with the Population Register Directorate at the Central Informatics Organization. These schedules listed the names of eligible voters in alphabetical order.
Any person whose name is not listed on the schedules or whose details are incorrect may apply to the Committee to list his name or correct his details. Similarly, any voter can request the addition of the name of any voter in his electoral constituency whose name was missed out or not included without a justifiable reason, or whose details were not correct, provided that such applications are submitted during the period of displaying the schedules. The Committee will issue its decision within three days from the date of the application.
2. Registration of Candidates
After preparing the final voters' schedules, the door for nomination was opened .The Elections Supervisory Committee in every governorate received for the duration of seven days, written applications for nominations of membership for the Council of Representatives, on the form designated for this purpose. The application should specify the electoral constituency in which the candidate nominates himself and it should not include any phrases or statements not required by it, otherwise the application will be considered invalid. The application should also be accompanied by a non-refundable receipt of BD200/- to the Treasury of the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs.
3. Voting
On the scheduled date of the elections, the Chairman of the Committee receives all ballot cards in a sealed envelope from the representative of the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs, .Before opening the doors of the election center at 8.00 am. The Chairman of the Committee verifies the total number of ballot cards received and the Secretary records the receipt of seals, the quantities, the number of ballot cards, the number of ballot boxes and their keys in the minutes.
The Normal Process Flow at the Time of Voting:
The voters enter the hall from the doors marked with "Entry" sign in every centre.
The voters stand by the tables to verify their identity in two queues, with one queue at the right and the other at the left of each table. One of the marshals will maintain order of the queues providing courteous manner with the voters at all times.
One of the queues will be designated and specified for women only, which will be organized and controlled by female marshals.
The voter will hand in his Smart card to one of the data entry operators. The data entry operators will take turns in using the computer.
A copy of the Smart card will not be acceptable.
The data entry operators will ensure of voter's information through card reader and to confirm the existence of the voter's name in the computer.
After such confirmation, the data entry operator will give the voter a ballot card indicating to him the method of voting, ensuring that every voter shall:
Examine the names of the candidates and their photographs on the ballot card to be certain of the identity of the candidate he will vote for.
Vote for one candidate only.
Place a tick mark only in the circle provided. The card that has a different mark or indicating the reason for voting will be invalidated.
The data entry operator will direct the voter to the voting booth.
The marshal standing at each voting booth will direct the voters who have verified their identity to the voting spot.
The marshal standing at each voting booth will ensure privacy and allow sufficient time for the voter to fill in the ballot card.
After completing the ballot card, the marshal will direct the voter to the observers table where the ballot boxes are located.
The first observer will verify the voter's name against his smart Card.
The first observer will ensure the printing of the voters name in the list issued by the printer to ascertain that the voter's name is recorded in the computer and thus confirming his eligibility to vote.
The first observer will mark the printed name on the list printed by the printer indicating that the voter has voted one time only.
The second observer will strictly prevent any voter from placing the ballot card in the box if the voter's name is not marked on the printed list.
After placing a mark against the voter's name on the printed list, the second observer will
ensure that the voter has placed his ballot card in the ballot box and he shall make sure that it fell inside it.
The second observer will direct the voter to the gate marked "Exit".
Figure (2-1). Process Flow for Voting in Bahraini elections
2.4.3 E-democracy
E-democracy, a portmanteau of electronic and democracy, comprises the use of electronic communications technologies, such as the Internet, in enhancing democratic processes within a democratic republic or representative democracy.
Typically, the kinds of enhancements sought by proponents of e-democracy are framed in terms of making processes more accessible; making citizen participation in public policy decision making more expansive and direct so as to enable broader influence in policy outcomes as more individuals involved could yield smarter policies; increasing transparency and accountability; and keeping the government closer to the consent of the governed, increasing its political legitimacy. E-democracy includes within its scope electronic voting, but has a much wider span than this single aspect of the democratic process [ ].
E-democracy is a large field of study and there is no all-encompassing definition Essentially, e-democracy relates to the online activities of governments, elected representatives, political parties and citizen groups The web sites of these organizations have a variety of functions, which include political or current affairs discussion, online consultation between representatives and their constituents, or there can be a free and non-partisan forum for discussion by citizens [ ].
Importance of this issue
E-democracy is a relatively new concept, which has surfaced out of the popularity of the internet and the need to re-invigorate interest in the democratic process. Citizens are more willing to use web sites to support their candidate and campaign drives. Time saving, efficiency of procedure and reliability are worthwhile [ ].
Below are some types of e-democracy [ ]:
1. Online consultations and political web sites online
Online consultations or e-consultations refer to an exchange between government and citizens using the Internet. They are one form of online deliberation. Further, online consultation consists in using the Internet to ask a group of people their opinion on one or more specific topics, allowing for trade-offs between participants. Generally, an agency consults a group of people to get their thoughts on an issue when a project or a policy is being developed or implemented, e.g. to identify or access options, or to evaluate ongoing activities. This enables governments to draft more citizen-centered policy.
As the Internet gains popularity with the public for voicing opinion, citizen participation in policy development through cyberspace is changing the face of democracy. The rise of the Internet has given way to buzzwords such as e-democracy, referring to citizen participation in politics, government issues and policy development through electronic technologies and the Internet, and e-Government, pertaining to providing citizens with government information and services online. Online consultation is an extension of these concepts. Through online engagement, government is enabled to hold interactive
dialogues with the public as they have a more direct route to citizen opinion via the Internet. Online consultations are probably the first step taken by many governments in creating an e-democracy. Nearly all governments have made legislation, case law and other information available online.
Online e-democracy communities have been set up, which encourage participation in the political process via the internet.
Online consultations do not challenge traditional notions of democracy in any significant way. Therefore, online consultations are more likely to be adopted than the more radical direct voting forms of e-democracy [ ].
2. E-voting
E-voting combines technology with the democratic process, in order to make voting more efficient and convenient for voters. E-voting (or electronic voting) allows voters to either vote by computer from their homes or at the polling station [ ].
a) E-voting at the polling booth
This form of e-voting is virtually the same as regular voting, but replaces the ballot paper with a balloting machine or a computer. These machines / computers are only connected to a private network and server while voting is going on or after the voting is done.
b) E-voting online
The most advanced form of e-democracy would be voting online, which would allow voters to cast their votes from anywhere there is internet access. The Internet is viewed as a platform and delivery medium for tools that help to eliminate some of the distance constraints in direct democracy. Technical media for e-democracy can be expected to extend to mobile technologies such as phones [ ].
Examples of E-Voting implemented internationally
Electronic voting has been a hot issue for many states worldwide and lately some of these states implemented this as a replacement to their conventional electoral systems in practice.
Brazil
Brazil is a world leader in electronic elections, having conducted them since 1990. The elections in October 1998, was one of the largest electronic elections in history, with over sixty million voters casting ballots by computer for local and national candidates. 57 percent of the voting population - voted electronically in elections for local, state and national offices. In accordance with Brazilian law, an initial election involving all candidates was held in October, and a run-off election between the top two vote-getters for each office was held in November. When the results were tabulated, Brazil had
elected its President, 27 Senators, 27 Governors, and over 2000 state and local officials [50].
United Kingdom
Australia
New Zealand
Lithuania
Estonia
2.5 Example of E-Voting in USA
The common thing about USA and Bahrain is the internet growth rate. Bahrain has shown a great hype in the growth of internet and household computers lately and that's what put Bahrain in equality with USA. As USA is always been an example for internet growth and Bahrain has shown an enormous growth in Personal computers and internet growth rate lately. Though Bahrain's growth rate cannot be related to with USA's growth rate directly but as USA is a leading country in the developed world, Bahrain is one of the developing countries who have been quite successful in implementation of new technologies for the benefits of its people. Comparison of Bahrain and USA in terms of population and internet is shown on Table (2-1) [59].
From Table (2-1) it is quite clear that Bahrain has a very impressive growth rate of internet usage and it is constantly increasing by the time.
Table (2-1). Comparison of Bahrain and USA in terms of population and internet
Country
Population
(2010 Est.)
Internet Users,
(Year 2000)
Internet Users,
(Year 2010)
Penetration
(%Population)
United States
936,681,422
95,360,901
470,914,336
50.3 %
Bahrain
738,004
40,000
649,300
88.0%
It appears from the table that there is no equality between the growth rate of USA and Bahrain but closely watching the behavior of people adopting the new technologies will tell us that if one takes USA growth rate from 1990-2000 the growth rate was enormous and after year 2000 things are running steady that's how Bahrain is working. At the moment the growth rate of Bahrain is enormous but it will likely get steady in few years.
2.5.1 Old system of voting in USA
Traditional ways of voting had been in practice in United States of America mainly Lever Machines and Punch Cards. Papers were also a major part of this old system. It is shown in Table (2-2).
Table (2-2). Traditional ways of voting used in USA
Type
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
1
Lever Machine
43%
39%
32%
28.5%
22%
2
Punch Card
31%
35%
41%
38.5%
37%
3
Paper
10.5%
8%
6%
4%
2%
4
Optical Scan
2%
4%
7.5%
15%
24%
5
Direct Recording Electronic
Voting Machine (DRE)
1%
1.5%
3.5%
4.5%
7%
6
Mixed Systems
12.5%
12.5%
10%
9.5%
8%
2.5.2 Implementation of e-voting in USA
During this time, there have been 5 types of voting systems used: lever machines, punch cards (including Votomatic and DataVote systems), optical scan, direct recording electronic (DRE) voting machines, and paper ballots.Typically, a voting jurisdiction uses one type of voting system throughout the entire jurisdiction. Occasionally, a jurisdiction uses more than one type of voting system during an election.
Following the 2000 U.S. Presidential election, in which the ability of certain voting systems to accurately record the intent of voters was questioned, U.S. Congress passed the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). Among the provisions of HAVA was an allocation of funds for jurisdictions to modernize their voting systems. Specifically, money was provided for jurisdictions to replace lever machine and punch card systems with electronic voting machine and optical scan systems[60].
There was a need of e-voting in USA from quite a long time but there were some technology hazards but finally, in year 2004 USA had its 1st National Elections observed through e-voting on a fairly large scale.
The effect of HAVA on voting system usage is apparent from the 17% increase in the use of electronic voting machines coupled with an 18% decrease in the use of punch cards between the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections[60].
Usage ratio of different voting systems in USA in elections is shown in Table (2-2) and Figure (2-2) [60].
Table (2-2). Usage ratio of different voting systems in USA in elections 2000 and 2004
Type
2000
2004
1
Lever Machine
17%
18%
2
Punch Card
31%
13%
3
Paper
1.5%
1%
4
Optical Scan
29.5%
35%
5
Direct Recording Electronic
Voting Machine (DRE)
12.5%
29.5%
Figure (2-2). Usage ratio of different voting systems in USA in elections 2004
There were partial tests being carried out in different times in different states to check the authenticity of e-voting e.g. [61]:
1. In Alaska in January 2000, 35 people voted via the Internet in the Alaskan Republican Party's presidential straw poll using a password mailed to them in advance. Kathleen Dalton, a member of the Alaska Republican Straw Poll Committee said that "Internet voting opens up a completely new domain to an Alaskan population that is handicapped by vast distances, lack of land transportation routes, and slow or interrupted postal service in winter months" [61].
2. The Arizona Democratic Party was planning to offer Internet voting in its March 2000 binding presidential primary. Security in this election appeared also to rely on voters signing a form, mailing it in, and receiving by return mail a password that allows them the vote any time within a four-day period. A firm competing with the one running the election for the party declined to make a bid for the election. They were concerned that party officials insisted on allowing people to vote from home, and urged instead voting only at polling stations, so poll workers could guarantee the identity of voters before letting them cast votes. They also worried that the computers used might harbor viruses or other Trojan horse programs. The Voting Integrity project has filed suit in federal court against the Arizona plan, saying it discriminates against minority voters. Noting that only half of the households in the United States have Internet access, the League of Women Voters has raised this issue also [61].
3. The Pentagon is scheduling a test of overseas Internet voting in November 2000 using 250 voters from five states and virus-free machines [61].
A Study of USA's Diebold systems
Diebold (AccuVote-TS) systems is one type of a Direct Record Electronic (DRE) Voting System ,it is a voter-activated interactive touch-screen system. Using a smart card as the voter authorization, the AccuVote-TS permit voters to view and cast their votes by touching target areas on an electronically generated ballot. Each unit provides a direct-entry computerized voting application that automatically records and stores appropriate ballot information and results. At the end of the voting period, the system can print precinct totals to be included as part of the permanent record.
The AccuVote-TS is supported by the Global Election Management System (GEMS) software, which provides ballot creation, vote tabulation, and reporting. The AccuVote-TS prevents the voter from over voting, notifies the voter of under voting, and allows the voter to review and modify their ballot choices before casting their ballot [67].
Diebold system
Device type
Embedded with Windows CE, and C++ code.
Visual Output
Color Touch screen, with GUI software.
Operating System/Software
Windows CE, and C++ code stored on the Internal Memory and PCMCIA cards.
Records/Audits
Internal ribbon printer, and PCMCIA storage for records and audit trials. Additionally the GEMS server also stores the votes and audits.
Accessibility
Optional Audio component to assist the visually impaired. "Magnify" feature to enlarge the text. I guess all Windows CE Accessibility features are available on these systems.
Control
Two GEMS servers one primary and a backup, for every polling station, that connects to the voting units to "load the ballots" and then voting units work independently. They are again connected at the time of results.
Security of Access
GEMS servers have access through Supervisory Smart cards, and PIN's, some users have login and password access.
Ballot Issue
Voter access smart card is issued in an envelope for a terminal. Voter can put it in the assigned terminal and cast his/her vote.
Storage of Votes
In a PCMCIA card hidden in the Voting Unit. Results are "transmitted" using modems to the counting center.
Cost of the System
About 3300$.
Power Supply
electricity.
Capacity
Over 35000 votes.
Localization/Languages
Supports more than 8 different languages using GEMS software.
Developed by
Private Company.
Buyer/ Owner
Individual states / counties buy the systems, and use it to take part in elections, each state can decide based on its law, which system to adopt.
2.5.3 Difference between Old and New Voting System in USA
There is a big difference in the old and new way to vote. I can discuss the differences in four major aspects:
1. Experiences
In the old system the major chunk of the system was done through Lever Machines. In these types of machines it was not automated and there were different levers for different choices and one can pull levers for the choices and one big Lever to make the choice official [60].
In the new electronic way of voting as discussed above the whole system is being automated, there are machines with screens and the person can see choices on the screen and can select the choice by pressing the right option [61].
2. Technology
Old system was developed according to the needs of the time. Lever machines, Punch cards and a very traditional way of voting "Paper" was used to cast votes. The most advanced of them was the lever machines. In this people don't have to do much work, just see the options by pulling levers and select one option by pulling one main Big Lever. Sounds easy but takes much time. It has a problem if there are many candidates to vote for a Person could take long time to caste his/her vote which ultimately is a loss to the nation [60].
Diebold AccuVote-TS (official name of USA's e-voting machines) is working very simple. To cast a vote, the voter first inserts her voter card. The machine validates the voter card and presents the voter with a user interface. It allows her to express her vote by selecting candidates and answering questions. After making and confirming her selections, the voter pushes a button on the user interface to cast her vote. The machine modifies the voter card, marking it as invalid, and then ejects it. After leaving the
machine, the voter returns the now-invalid voter card to the poll workers, who may re-enable it for use by another voter [67].
3. Method
In the old system as the voter reaches the polling place, there were normally three people at the desk by the door as the voter entered the place, looking up addresses and voting districts. As the voter passes away he/she finds another four people at the other desk who were appointed to make sure there was no fraud and the elections were transparent. After this the voter enters the booth and castes the vote [60].
According to new system a voter arrives at the polling place, he/she checks in at a front desk where several poll workers are stationed. The voter announces his/her identity (and provides whatever evidence of identity is required by elections law). The identity is checked against a list of registered voters. Assuming the voter is registered and has not yet voted, poll workers record that the voter has voted. At this point the poll workers give the voter a "voter card," a special smart card that signifies that the voter is entitled to cast a vote. The voter waits until the voting machine is free and then approaches the machine to cast his/her vote [67].
4. Vulnerabilities
There are many problems, weaknesses and issues with the traditional old system that was observed by United States of America. One of the major issues was the delay of election results. After all America had the problems such as the miscount in Florida during the 2000 presidential election. If they had been persistent to the old system a greater controversy could have emerged. There were some problems in the past such as voters making errors while signing the ballot paper which means a useless vote. There were different systems employed and they resulted in a higher cost on elections [67].
The vulnerabilities of the new system are defined below [62]:
a) Malicious software running on a single voting machine can steal votes with little if any risk of detection. The malicious software can modify all of the records, audit logs, and counters kept by the voting machine, so that even careful forensic examination of these records will find nothing amiss. We have constructed demonstration software that carries out this vote-stealing attack.
b) Anyone who has physical access to a voting machine, or to a memory card that will later be inserted into a machine, can install said malicious software using a simple method that takes as little as one minute. In practice, poll workers and others often have unsupervised access to the machines.
c) Diebold AccuVote-TS machines are susceptible to voting-machine viruses' computer viruses that can spread malicious software automatically and invisibly from machine to machine during normal pre- and post-election activity. We have constructed a demonstration virus that spreads in this way, installing our demonstration vote stealing program on every machine it infects.
d) While some of these problems can be eliminated by improving Diebold's software, others cannot be remedied without replacing the machines' hardware. Changes to election procedures would also be required to ensure security.
Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
The aim of this chapter is to give an introduction about the general research methodology used in this study together with specific tools used in data collection and analysis. Also this chapter discusses the methods to evaluate validity and reliability of the research.
