Black Box Voting
Encyclopedia
Black box voting signifies voting
on voting machines which do not disclose how they operate such as with closed source or proprietary
operations. The term, as described by Dr. Arnold Urken of Stephens Institute of Technology, comes from the technical jargon use of the term black box
, a device or system or object when it is viewed primarily in terms of its input and output characteristics. Dr. Urken's group at Stevens Institute was one of the first independent testing authorities for voting machines.
The term was coined by David Allen
, publisher, technical consultant and co-writer to author and activist Bev Harris
, who popularized the term in her book with that title and runs the BlackBoxVoting.org website. Allen's formal definition is found on page 4 of the original edition of the book: "Any voting system in which the mechanisms for recording and/or tabulating the vote are hidden from the voter, and/or the mechanism lacks a tangible record of the vote cast."
systems, which allow examination of the source code, access to firmware
, which controls the hardware, is not available.
Even if the source code is made public, significant challenges remain in the areas of authenticating that the code running systems in the field matches the publicly released code, and it is still possible to find attack vectors for open source systems.
In the U.S. presidential election, 2004, 32% of the voting was done on optical scan machines
and 29% on DRE voting machine
s using trade secret proprietary software. As of February 2006, that figure had climbed to 49% for optical systems and 39% DRE.
Legislation has been introduced in the United States Congress
to require public access to source code, hardware and firmware information, including the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007, introduced by Congressman Rush D. Holt, Jr.
.
Voting
Voting is a method for a group such as a meeting or an electorate to make a decision or express an opinion—often following discussions, debates, or election campaigns. It is often found in democracies and republics.- Reasons for voting :...
on voting machines which do not disclose how they operate such as with closed source or proprietary
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
operations. The term, as described by Dr. Arnold Urken of Stephens Institute of Technology, comes from the technical jargon use of the term black box
Black box
A black box is a device, object, or system whose inner workings are unknown; only the input, transfer, and output are known characteristics.The term black box can also refer to:-In science and technology:*Black box theory, a philosophical theory...
, a device or system or object when it is viewed primarily in terms of its input and output characteristics. Dr. Urken's group at Stevens Institute was one of the first independent testing authorities for voting machines.
The term was coined by David Allen
David Allen
David Allen, Dave Allen, David Allan, or Dave Allan may refer to:-Acting, entertainment and broadcasting:* Dave Allen , Irish comedian* Dave Allen , American television and film actor...
, publisher, technical consultant and co-writer to author and activist Bev Harris
Bev Harris
Bev Harris is an American writer, activist, and founder of Black Box Voting Inc., a national nonpartisan, nonprofit elections watchdog group. She helped popularize the term Black Box Voting, while authoring a book of that title....
, who popularized the term in her book with that title and runs the BlackBoxVoting.org website. Allen's formal definition is found on page 4 of the original edition of the book: "Any voting system in which the mechanisms for recording and/or tabulating the vote are hidden from the voter, and/or the mechanism lacks a tangible record of the vote cast."
About black box voting systems
Both optical scan systems which interpret paper ballots and Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) systems can be black box systems. The determination is whether the public is allowed to examine the source code and hardware. Though source code may be available to voting system testing authorities and state or county election officials it can still be considered "black box" if it is not available to the public. Even with some open sourceOpen source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
systems, which allow examination of the source code, access to firmware
Firmware
In electronic systems and computing, firmware is a term often used to denote the fixed, usually rather small, programs and/or data structures that internally control various electronic devices...
, which controls the hardware, is not available.
Even if the source code is made public, significant challenges remain in the areas of authenticating that the code running systems in the field matches the publicly released code, and it is still possible to find attack vectors for open source systems.
In the U.S. presidential election, 2004, 32% of the voting was done on optical scan machines
Optical scan voting system
An optical scan voting system is an electronic voting system and uses an optical scanner to read marked paper ballots and tally the results.-History:...
and 29% on DRE voting machine
DRE voting machine
A direct-recording electronic voting machine records votes by means of a ballot display provided with mechanical or electro-optical components that can be activated by the voter ; that processes data by means of a computer program; and that records voting data and ballot images in memory components...
s using trade secret proprietary software. As of February 2006, that figure had climbed to 49% for optical systems and 39% DRE.
Legislation has been introduced in the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
to require public access to source code, hardware and firmware information, including the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007, introduced by Congressman Rush D. Holt, Jr.
Rush D. Holt, Jr.
Rush Dew Holt, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for . He is a member of the Democratic Party. He is currently the only Quaker in Congress.-Early life and education :Rush D. Holt was born to Rush D...
.
See also
- ACCURATEACCURATEACCURATE was established in 2005 by a group of computer scientists, psychologists and policy experts to address problems with electronic voting...
- Electoral fraudElectoral fraudElectoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
- Hacking DemocracyHacking DemocracyHacking Democracy is a 2006 documentary film by producer Robert Carrillo Cohen and producer / directors Russell Michaels and Simon Ardizzone, shown on HBO...
- Open Voting Consortium
- Voting machineVoting machineVoting machines are the total combination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment , that is used to define ballots; to cast and count votes; to report or display election results; and to maintain and produce any audit trail information...
- Voter Verified Paper Audit TrailVoter Verified Paper Audit TrailVoter Verified Paper Audit Trail or Verified Paper Record is intended as an independent verification system for voting machines designed to allow voters to verify that their vote was cast correctly, to detect possible election fraud or malfunction, and to provide a means to audit the stored...
Further reading
- Princeton Security Analysis of the Diebold AccuVote-TS Voting Machine
- USA Today: More problems arise with 'black-box voting', Andrew Kantor, June 2004
- How Elections Should Be Conducted, Eric Jaffa, MoveLeft Media, March 2004