Government Technology - October 2008 - (Page 13)

Rocking the As the IT manager for a Southern California county department, I could not disagree more with your article [Rocking the Vote, August 2008] regarding the “essentially outlawed” use of touchscreen voting machines. I personally was called in (along with other IT staff) during the primary election, to help the Registrar of Voters (ROV) with the ballot counting process. The ROV was forced to use the outdated optical scanning machines as the electronic voting machines had been decertified. I found the process cumbersome, labor-intensive and time-consuming. Delays caused by slow batch processing and the volume of votes cast caused our county to be one of the last in the state to report the final vote tally. Vote BY STEV E TOWN S | EDITO R As the IT manager for a Southern California county department, I could not disagree more with your article [Rocking the Vote, August 2008] California Secre tary of State Debra Bowe n received the F. Kennedy Proﬁle in CouraJohn Award for her ge decision to sharply limit electronic use in her state.voting machine The award, presented by the John F. Kennedy Library Found ation, recog nizes public ofﬁcia ls who make tough decis ions without regard to personal or profession al consequences. In August 2007, Bowen set strict limits on the use of e-voti technology known as direct ng recording electr onic (DRE) machines, citing voting troubling secur ﬂaws in the ity systems. The move angered e-voti ng and sent Califo machine vendors — which had rnia counties invested $450 in new voting million hardware — scrambling to prepare for the state’s Feb. 5, 2008, presid primary electi ential on. At ﬁrst glanc unlikely oppon e, Bowen is an ent of DREs typically allow , which citizens to vote touchscreen. via Since being to the Califo elected rnia in 1992, Bowe state Legislature n the use of Web has helped pioneer interact with technology to voters and prom governmen ote t transparen cy. She was elected secre tary of state in 2006. Bowen talked to Governmen Technology t about her e-voti decision and ng the future of tronic voting elec. She also discu some of the sses other techn ology challenges facing Califo rnia. AUG_08 EARLIER THIS YEAR, DEBR A BOWE N HOLDING THE JOHN F. IN COURAGE KENNEDY PROFILE AWARD ROCKING 32 regarding the “essentially outlawed” use of touchscreen voting machines.” PHOTO BY GERRY McINTYRE CALIFOR SECRET OF STATA DEBRA E BOWEN, A LONGTIME TECH NOLOGY ADVOCATE EXPLAINS WHY SHE PUT THE BRAKES O E-VOTING. N After working in the IT industry for almost 30 years, I find it very difficult to believe that the collective genius of industry leaders cannot develop devices that are secure, reliable and cost-effective. In my opinion, the industry has a philanthropic-type duty to society to assist with the development, testing, certification and implementation of a quality solution that can be depended upon for accurate and timely vote tabulation and recording. If we are to engage current active voters, the disenfranchised potential voters and the edgy group — next-generation voters — then it is essential that current industry leaders develop and deploy a much-needed secure solution and help ensure the ongoing success of our democratic process. TIMOTHY S. MEYER, BUSINESS APPLICATIONS MANAGER, INFORMATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT, COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF. 33 Transparently Successful Raise Your Voice Your opinions matter to us. Send comments about this issue to the editors editorial@ govtech.com. Please list your telephone number for confirmation. Publication is solely at the discretion of the editors. Government Technology reserves the right to edit submissions for length. I love your latest Last Mile column [Should the Inside be Out? August 2008] on government transparency. But I have a better example for you — my agency! We are fully transparent in our operations, down to how much each project costs, what projects are delayed and mapping of the citywide street network including the failures — but we cannot get press on this. Nobody is willing to take a look at our operations and say — this is the way every government should operate. What we get is — “Well, you are small, so it is easy for you to do what you are doing.” … No it isn’t. What we found is that once you operate in a truly open environment, it is very easy to be transparent and show the public where their money is being spent. I would like to challenge every government in the U.S. to be like our little agency, the Little Agency that Could. Please, take a look at the dashboard on our Web site — www.tib.wa.gov/ performance/Dashboard — and peruse what we have accomplished in only four years. Then tell me that other governments can’t be transparent and open like we are. RHONDA REINKE, CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER, WASHINGTON STATE TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT BOARD j 13 http://www.tib.wa.gov/performance/Dashboard http://www.tib.wa.gov/performance/Dashboard http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - October 2008

Government Technology - October 2008 Contents Point of View On the Scene Big Picture Four Questions for... Letters Cover Stories: Border Crossing The Australian E-Connection Easy Rider Northern Exposure Technology on the Cheap Ditching the Desktop Heightening the Experience Pipe Dream Falling Between the Cracks Come Together, Right Now... It's a ... Car? Digital State of the Art Spectrum Products Two Cents signal:noise

Government Technology - October 2008

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