NEWSWEEK: Coalition to Form to Set Voting-System Standards

Prnewswire ^ | Sunday January 30, 10:25 am ET

[Brian Mosely]

System Would Rate Security, Privacy, Reliability, Accessibility to Elderly and Disabled

# NEW YORK, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- A team of election officials, computer scientists, interest-group advocates and voting-equipment makers will join together in a coalition called Voting Systems Performance Rating (VSPR) to generate a set of voting-system standards that everyone can agree on-sort of a Consumer Reports for election machines, Senior Editor and Columnist Steven Levy reports in the February 7 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, January 31).(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050130/NYSU003 )

There would be ratings in areas like security, privacy, reliability and accessibility to the elderly and disabled. After the group does its work, states and counties would have a way to evaluate voting equipment before they buy, Levy reports. Voters could be more effective watchdogs, since VSPR's work would be public. "In voting systems, the thing you need most is transparency," says renowned cryptographer David Chaum, who persuaded the others to form the VSPR coalition.

[Fenris6]

In voting systems, the thing you need most is transparency

That sounds great. We also need safeguards against voter fraud - absentee/dual-state voters, ID checks, etc.

And especially a cheap and effective way to keep voters from being bused by Dems from precint to precint, casting mutliple ballots. I'm trying to thing of something, but the solution escapes me at the moment....

[Lizavetta]

A team of election officials, computer scientists, interest-group advocates and voting-equipment makers will join together in a coalition called Voting Systems Performance Rating (VSPR) to generate a set of voting-system standards that everyone can agree on-

How about starting with the concept that ONE MUST SHOW A FREAKIN' VALID ID TO VOTE???

[Grut]

A team of election officials, computer scientists, interest-group advocates and voting-equipment makers...

Hm... let me guess. The report will call for an increase in the number of election officials to oversee the installation of all-new, computerized voting equipment which is carefully designed not to 'artificially' reduce the voting power certain groups.