Call/Write into National Public Radio "Science Friday" and comment on "Voting Systems Update"

FRIDAY Sept. 5 2008
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Voting Systems Update

(broadcast Friday, September 5th, 2008)
Segment produced by:  Annette Heist

With the official presidential campaign season now fully underway, we'll get an update on voting machines around the country.

After a problem-riddled adoption of various electronic voting systems following the 2000 election, many states are now moving towards systems that can provide a voter-verified paper trail to ensure an accurate vote.

In some states, voting machines that are only a few years old are being sold for scrap or auctioned on Ebay.

But are there enough of the new machines to go around -- and are some areas of the country better equipped than others?

And what about ballot design?

We'll talk with Larry Norden, author of "The Machinery of Democracy: Protecting Elections in an Electronic World," about voting technology around the country.

Teachers, find more information about using Science Friday as a classroom resource in the Kids' Connection
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Guests

Larry Norden
Project director for the Voting Technology Assessment Project
http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/the_machinery_of_democracy...

Author, "The Machinery of Democracy: Protecting Elections in an Electronic World"
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0897335538/sciencefriday/

Counsel, Brennan Center for Justice http://www.brennancenter.org/
New York University http://www.nyu.edu
New York, New York

Related Links

* VerifiedVoting.org
http://verifiedvoting.org/
* Brennan Center: Better Ballots
http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/better_ballots/
* Federal Election Commission
http://www.fec.gov/
* usa.gov: voting and elections
http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Voting.shtml
* Voting and the election process
http://uspolitics.america.gov/uspolitics/elections/voting.html

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If you're interested, here is a similar program that was broadcast in February of this year.
Voting Machine Update (broadcast Friday, February 1st, 2008) Click for audio file.

The election season is in full swing, with the 'Super Tuesday' primary just days away. Communities around the country have adopted different types of electronic voting machines in the hopes of avoiding another 'hanging
chad' situation like the one that marred the 2000 presidential race. However, some communities are reconsidering their approach.

Maryland recently announced that it would be moving away from entirely electronic systems to ones in which paper ballots are read by electronic scanners. Florida and California have also turned away from all-electronic 'touch screen' designs. In this segment, we'll check in with computer security expert Avi Rubin about how states are using electronic voting systems.

Guests

Aviel Rubin
Professor, Computer Science
Technical Director, Information
Security Institute
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland

Related Links

• VerifiedVoting.org
• Electronic Frontier Foundation: E-Voting
• NY Times Magazine: Can You Count on Voting Machines?
• Voting and Elections: USA.gov

Segment produced by: Annette Heist