eVoting - A Perspective on Security

Much has been written about how technology can be used to improve the voting process in the United States, especially since the Presidential Election of 2000. There are some fairly obvious security issues that must be addressed, and some that are not so obvious. While a fairly innocuous process on the surface, these events, when taken together, form a very complex situation from an IT and security perspective. This paper will discuss how these objectives can be met with technology, and in contrast from some of the other literature that is out there, it will go beyond the theoretical and discuss in pragmatic terms what should be done to get from current state to 'eVoting.' Keep in mind that given this practical approach to implementing electronic voting we are differentiating eVoting from voting via the Internet. Included are the important first steps that must be taken in order to gain technical experience and public trust in these new systems; therefore the systems discussed will not be a radical departure from our current voting procedures but rather an enhancement to them with new devices.