ACM statement on audit trail

[Neal McBurnett <neal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here is a statement from the Co-Chairs of USACM, the U.S. Public
Policy Committee of the Association for Computing Machinery,
a premier organization in the computing industry.

It doesn't specifically call for something that can be recounted,
but the bill it supports (HR 2239) does.

Neal McBurnett                 http://bcn.boulder.co.us/~neal/
Signed and/or sealed mail encouraged.  GPG/PGP Keyid: 2C9EBA60

Excerpt from http://www.acm.org/usacm/Letters/Rep_Rush_Holt_Letter.htm

 Computers are inherently subject to programming error, equipment malfunction, and malicious tampering. If we are to ensure fair and honest elections, and retain voter confidence in our democratic process, we need to ensure that there are no questions of any such errors or tampering with voting equipment. Therefore, it is crucial that any computerized voting system provide a voter-verifiable audit trail: there should be an anonymous record of each vote that can be can be checked for accuracy by the voter when the vote is cast, and is difficult or impossible to alter after the vote is cast.

The well-intentioned but premature establishment of a vulnerable system for voting could result in unintended consequences undermining the confidence, integrity and accuracy of the electoral process. Therefore, USACM continues to recommend that a voter-verifiable audit trail be one of the essential requirements for deployment of new voting systems.  We are pleased that H.R.  2239, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003, recognizes our concerns by requiring voting systems to generate a physical paper trail that voters can personally verify at the time of voting.