Technology

Tuesday’s election will be a fundamental moment for deciding the future of our country. It will also be a major marking point for the debate about How to run our elections, which began in earnest after the election of 2000, continued through the 2004 election, and rages today.

What will Tuesday bring, and where ought the debate go after that? Well, to state the very obvious, we are all hoping that the elections will go smoothly, that voters will participate in significant numbers, and that their votes will be clearly and fully counted. But there are many barriers and potholes—before, during and after Election Day itself—that suggest that may not be the case. Here are a number of things that could thwart the ability of eligible voters to register and cast a vote, and have that vote properly counted—and therefore erode confidence in the entire process. Read more...

There are two election process issues facing the nation this November:
* Can the polls be opened on time?
* Will voters trust the results?

The large deployment of new technologies is what drives the first question. Poll workers are often people who do not see computers often in their everyday lives. Turning on these new high tech machines in scores of thousands of polling places at 6 AM is going to be a challenge. Only machines designed for usability and jurisdictions that invest appropriately in training will lead to a "yes" to the first question.

The second question is more complicated and has several parts. Having accurate results is a very different question than trust. In a voluntary system such as our democracy, trust is certainly as important as accuracy. Even if the new machines cannot be tampered with, some will likely have bugs. In our opinion, only an unambiguous paper ballot solves the trust and accuracy questions. But not all paper ballots do so. Here's why: Read more...

The images from 2000 are burned into our collective memory. Election officials peering through magnifying glasses to examine hanging and pregnant chads. At a recent Congressional hearing these images were projected on a screen with the intent of muddying the debate over the growing demand for transparent, auditable, and verifiable voting systems. But when I see those pictures, I see democracy at its best: election officials going the extra mile to determine the intent of every voter. Recounts are essential to ensure a sound, healthy democracy and with the increasing dependence on software to count votes, the imperative to verify election results is even stronger.

Since recounts invariably take place in the overcharged political climate of a hotly contested campaign, recounts are most often marred by real or perceived manipulation. Many states have recognized that mandatory random audits can serve to alleviate much of the concern about electronic voting machines and de-politicize what should be a routine aspect of administering elections. Read more...

The nation is one day away from the conclusion of a hotly contested mid-term election season. What we can say is that many eyes will be watching the outcome-some with partisan hopes and others to monitor the use of electronic voting systems. The National Committee for Voting Integrity (NCVI) is leading one of the many efforts to ease the use of electronic voting this election season by providing recommendations to assist voters and election administrators for the November 7, 2006 election.

The guidance was developed with the assistance of the Brennan Center for Justice and addresses the use of electronic voting systems in the upcoming national elections. NCVI and the Brennan Center warn that the recent implementation of electronic voting systems will make ensuring that all votes are accurately counted a difficult and challenging task. The ad hoc measures of thousand of citizens, groups, and nonprofits have filled the role of the federal government in trying to facilitate the implementation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Read more...

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin's announcement that there will be a critical space shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope marks a victory for the nation and for my home state of Maryland. It is a triumph for science! Without question, Hubble has been the most successful NASA program since Apollo. And like Apollo, Hubble has helped America lead the way in discovery and exploration.

This servicing mission will give Hubble new scientific instruments, new batteries and new gyroscopes, making Hubble far more powerful than it is today. Hubble's best and most productive period is ahead of it, not behind it. I am so proud of my long record of standing up for Hubble. It is Hubble that started this 'Golden Age' of exploration and discovery, and it is Hubble that has become America's icon for exploration and discovery.

Having reached the fifth anniversary of the 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people, including Connecticut resident Ottile Lundgren, HSGAC Chairman Susan Collins and I asked the Government Accountability Office for a full assessment of federal efforts to develop biological detection technology. So far, we have spent $18 billion on biological research and development. It is our intention to ensure that that money is being spent wisely and that the taxpayers' investment in biological research and development pays off in dividends toward their improved safety. Last year, a report by the National Research Council said our agencies are making progress but also said "it is impossible to quantify the probability of the effectiveness of such systems." This request - supported by 21 other senators and house members, including the chairman and ranking members of the senate judiciary committee and the chairman and ranking members of the house senate science committee - is an effort to determine how effective our investment has been and to guide our investment decisions for the future.

Article I Section 8 of our Constitution establishes the framework for our nation’s copyright and patent laws. It grants Congress the power to award inventors and creators, for limited amounts of time, exclusive rights to their inventions and ideas. The founding fathers realized that this type of incentive was crucial to ensure that America would become the world’s leader in innovation and creative ingenuity.

Today, it is no coincidence that America is considered the most aggressive protector of intellectual property in the world and the world leader in innovation and creativity. However, many countries have failed to recognize the importance of intellectual property, which has not only harmed creators in those countries but also U.S. innovators seeking to expand into those countries.

The negative effects of international copyright piracy are staggering. In Russia, approximately 80 percent of all motion pictures and 83 percent of business software are pirated. Considering that the core copyright industries account for 6 percent of U.S. GDP and the total copyright industries account for approximately 12 percent of U.S. GDP, it is clear that America’s businesses are facing a serious problem. In fact, the FBI estimates that U.S. businesses lose between $200-250 billion a year to counterfeit goods.

Read more...

Today, President Bush has signed into law the Security and Accountability for Every Port (SAFE Port) Act Conference Report. Included in the bill was language to extend the prohibition on gambling using wire communication facilities to include Internet technologies, effectively curbing Internet gambling in the U.S.

The bill includes provisions guaranteeing that states - like Utah - which have banned all forms of gambling within their borders will not have their laws trumped by federal legislation. Previous incarnations of the bill did not offer this protection.

By signing this bill into law, President Bush helped secure our ports and struck a decisive blow to Internet gambling. Gambling is a vice, and Internet gambling is especially insidious. Internet gambling sites lack the necessary tools to protect children, and can cross state borders with the click of a mouse.

This Administration has to hold our trading partners' feet to the fire and enforce the rules of trade. Goods and services produced by American workers, farmers and businesses that have high intellectual property content are critical to restoring broad-based economic growth and job creation, yet they are widely pirated, stolen and copied. No country in the world has done more to undermine American intellectual property than China. Accordingly, as a first step, we call on the Administration immediately to file a broad-based challenge in the World Trade Organization (WTO). The United States should use the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) to challenge China's flagrant abuse of international rules governing intellectual property rights. If we're going to convince American workers that trade can work for them, they need to know that Congress and the Administration will crack down on violations to give them the advantage they deserve.

During today's hearing, one thing was reinforced.  The electoral process is not perfect.  Improvements to the electoral process itself still need to be made.  Fortunately, the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) is a solid foundation upon which we can institute further electoral improvements.  HAVA made it easier for voters to cast a ballot and harder for people to knowingly commit fraud, which is why we need to appropriate the remaining $800 million dollar balance, which was authorized in Title II of HAVA, to fully fund the states, and give HAVA a chance to work.

As I have stated in the past, it is guaranteed that your vote will be lost if you don't cast a ballot.  I would encourage every eligible voter to cast a ballot, no matter how harsh the rhetoric about the November elections, and no matter how that ballot is cast - by DRE machine, absentee ballot, provisional ballot or otherwise.  Americans need to get out and vote in November with the confidence that their votes will be counted correctly.