Re: Auditing subcommittee meeting at clerk convention in Colorado

[Paul E Condon <pec@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 12:30:25PM -0700, Neal McBurnett wrote:
> Attached is the final version of the "Colorado Law Improvements"
> document we've come up with and will present shortly.
> 
> Neal McBurnett                 http://neal.mcburnett.org/
> 
> On Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 08:45:55AM -0700, Neal McBurnett wrote:
> > Thanks to Steve Pierson of the American Statistical Association for
> > helping make all this happen thru his correspondence with the chair,
> > Scott Doyle, and to many others for much work to date!  My input was
> > welcomed throughout the meeting, and Harvie Branscomb, in absentia,
> > also was accorded great respect.
> > 
> > They especially latched on to the brief "Colorado law improvements"
> > document that Steve and I wrote, and want to flesh that out into
> > legislative language.  We'll have an improved version of that out
> > soon for the subcommittee meeting today at 13:00 mountain time.
> > 
> > To access the stream, go to the General Assembly website at:
> > 
> >  http://www.leg.state.co.us/
> > 
> > Click on the "Video/Audio Broadcasts of Current Proceedings" button at
> > the top of the page.  Once you click through, click on the link for
> > House Committee Room 0112.
> > 
> > For more background, see 
> >  Principles and Best Practices for Post-Election Audits
> >  http://electionaudits.org/principles/

Hi, Neal;
Some nerdy comments on your draft:

I read your document using OpenOffice, the numbering/lettering of the
sections were not bound to any particular convention that OOW
understood, so I can't refer to seciton by their numbering.

Under "Implement batch reporting:", first sub-section:

"Batch reports must be machine-readable."

You should expand to:
"Batch reports must be machine-readable in a computer file format that
is open, and non-proprietary, e.g. CSV."

HTML with cascading style sheets (CSS) is 'machine-readable', but
hardly audit analyst friendly. But it is also 'open', so my wording
needs some tweeking.

Again, under "Aggregate state-wide unofficial data:"

"Such reports must be machine-readable."

What is needed, IMO, is a separate section discussing
'machine-readable'.  Maybe words about character-based vs. image-based
are needed. And, yes. HTML is character based. This work is not yet
done.

re. the footnote:
"If a computer pseudo-random number generator is used to help select
the audit units, initial values or "seeds" for the generator should be
chosen using a publicly observed, physical source of randomness, such
as rolls of fair dice; also, the generator's algorithm must be
published so that the public can verify that a valid algorithm was
used."

Consider also a computer based seed: 
Use the number of seconds since the Unix Epoch at the time of
initiation of the post-election audit process, or some other
convenient public event. The seed doesn't need to be truly random,
just beyond the power to scam by any participant.  Seconds since Unix
Epoch (SSUE) is surely the most available, ever-changing, non-repeatable
number in the world. And record this seed, so that calculations that
are based on it can be repeated precisely for software verification.
This verification is important for checking any corrections to
software bugs. 

But I wonder, is it practical to have only one PRNG process for the
whole body of work. Maybe just use, and record the SSUE each time a
seed in used. If someone tries to scam the system by repeatedly
running an analysis, the record of too many seeds in a short time,
could be used by auditors-of-the-auditors to catch the cheat.
Computers are good at keeping records of their operations
automatically, so this could work, IMO.

Another suggestion for seed: 
By prior arrangement with election managers of the two major parties,
they will each send email to the audit manager after the polls are
closed. Each email time-stamp is a value of SSUE. Use the product of
these two different SSUEs as a 64bit seed. 

My preferred PRNG is the one published by Press, et. al., "Numerical
Recipes ,,, ". Read this book when it comes time to make a selection.

Hope this helps.
-- 
Paul E Condon           
pecondon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx