Ohio Election Reform Root Cause Analysis Workshop

January 30, 2005

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I. Identification of Broken Election Processes

The team identified 7 election processes with problems. The Vote Recount process and Vote Audit process were selected for Root-Cause Analysis and improvement identification.

1. Voter Registration: Process of identifying voter eligibility and to accurately register them (Enfranchisement): (Problem: Disenfranchisement)

Ø Awareness

Ø Filling out registration

Ø Electronic registration cap

Ø Registration updating (unequal purging)

2. Voter Verification (Eligibility): (Problem: Inability to assure only eligible voters vote)

Ø Before Election

Ø During Election

3. Voting: (Problem: High degree of undervotes, overvotes, and inaccurate votes)

Ø Election Day

Ø Early Voting

Ø Absentee (Absentee vote verification)

Ø Provisional vote

Ø Provisional vote evaluation

Ø Allocate problems in voting machines

4. Voting Preparation: (Problem: not providing consistent voter-friendly environment)

Ø Getting poll workers

Ø Allocating equipment

Ø Physical site preparation (access, quality of environment)

Ø Communication (so people know where to go)

5. Vote Counting: (Problem: inability to assure accurate vote counts)

Ø Different procedures for different technologies

Ø Lack of standards

6. Vote Recount: (Problem: inability to assure accurate vote counts)

Ø Different procedures

Ø Problems in equipment

Ø Problems in sampling

7. Vote Audit (compare ballot to registrations and to voter intent): (Problem: inability to assure integrity of the vote results)

Ø Lack of audit trail

Ø Lack of audit process

II. Root Cause Analysis (Cause and Effect Diagram): Vote Recount and Vote Audit Processes

The team then conducted a Root-Cause Analysis of the root causes of the election problem effect as follows:

Effect: “Inability to assure the vote count reflected the intent of the voters”

The team brainstormed the causes in the six common categories of Cause:

Methods (Recount and audit procedures):

• No defined or poorly defined process for recount
• Lack of guaranteed chain of control of ballots / equipment, exposing them to potential for tampering
• Not sufficient time for adequate recount in Federal Election
• Recount process is easily manipulated during the recount
• No standard procedure for machine maintenance on voting day
• Recount procedures different for election day votes versus provisional votes versus early votes versus absentee ballot votes Recount does not include suppressed votes

Materials (Cast ballots, electronic data representing a vote, audit data):

· Ballots poorly designed & misleading for recount

· Physical ballots may be "lost," misplaced or destroyed

· Ballot presentation misaligned to recorded vote result

· Computer/equipment failure causes electronic ballots to be “lost” or erased

Machines (Software, Databases, voting equipment):

· DRE Programming error mis-records vote

· Machines may be tampered with, changing votes

· No audit trail in electronic equipment that can be used reliably for recounts

· Proprietary software is not observable ("not transparent")

· Electronic equipment not hacker-proof to savvy voters

HuMan (voters, election officials and staff, poll workers, recount personnel, observers:

· Do not follow recount/audit process

· Inadvertent recount error

· Deliberate recount error

· County attorney can bypass the law to stop a recount or certify one

· Voting equipment staff accessed the machine before observers could come

· Voter votes for a choice they may not have intended (cannot audit voter “intent”)

· Vendors may adjust machine counts when “fixing” machines that fail

· Lack of observers during recount

· No or little training for recount staff, workers or observers

Measurement (Vote counting, precinct sampling, recounting, auditing):

· Precincts selected for recounts not a statistically valid sample

· The 3% selection of precincts (in Ohio) may not be adequate representation of state population

· Lack of, or poorly defined sampling procedures or standards for recount samples

· Random sampling selection processes are intentionally vague

Management Environment (Government culture, Election Legislation, political system, society attitudes):

· No meaningful penalty for tampering with ballots/machines

· No accountability for violation of election law

· No culture of accountability

· No culture of zero-defects in the election processes

· Lack of funding for proper training of election staff and poll workers

· Lack of awareness of legal recourse

· Equipment vendors pay for events & oversight officials

· No funding for training or error proofing election processes

· Party partisanship is adversarial and divisive, and can lead to tampering (“the end justifies the means”)

· Campaign financing by lobbyists and special interests strongly influences politician and party loyalist behavior

III. Recommendations for Improvement (Recount & Audit Process):

The team then brainstormed process improvements to eliminate or mitigate the causes of process failure in the Recount and Audit processes.

Methods (Recount and audit procedures):

· Review, revise, test and standardize procedures for audit and recount to error proof

• Ensure guaranteed chain of custody of ballots and equipment. This should be a rigorous as evidence in a capital crime.

Ø Lock equipment with 2 different keys, to require oversight for access

• Provide sufficient time and/or resources to enable adequate recount
• Standardize vote recount procedures for different types of ballots

Materials (Cast ballots, electronic data representing a vote, audit data):

· Review, revise, test and standardize Ballot design for ease of audit and recount as well as vote casting (both electronic ballot presentation and paper ballot presentation)

Machines (Software, Databases, voting equipment):

• Require computer voting machines to provide verifiable audit trails that:

Ø Enables voter to assure they voted for whom they intended

Ø Can be used for recounts

• Require computer voting machines to have redundant data storage in separate databases that can be used to assure votes are not lost in the event of machine tampering or failure and subsequent maintenance on the machine
• Create standards for electronic vote record format that is independent of any voting equipment providers
• Require separate audit software and hardware that can access and read the recorded vote file and present the results to the voter for vote verification (audit independence)
• Provide vigorous tests of security of computer voting machines to assure they cannot be tampered with

HuMan (voters, election officials and staff, poll workers, recount personnel, observers:

· Increase public awareness and voter education (e.g., Wellstone)

Ø Awareness of importance of integrity in running for office

Ø Customize training and approach to citizens based on demographics

Ø Customize training and approach to citizens based on voting technology

Ø Democracy for America (DEA)

Measurement (Vote counting, precinct sampling, recounting, auditing):

· Review and enhance the procedure for sampling precincts for recounts to assure they represent a statistically valid sample that includes demographics variations

· Assure procedures for statistical sampling cannot be overridden by politically biased individuals

· Create reliable exit-poll sampling and questioning that can be used to audit the vote count or recount process and identify suspect vote results

Management Environment (Government culture, Legislature, political system, society attitudes):

· Increase crimes of vote-tampering, registration discrimination to felonies and increase fines and penalties

· File lawsuits for specific suspected, but likely fraud incidents

· Train, empower citizens in the Power of Discovery

Ø Provide education for citizens about how to file a complaint for an observed “irregularity,” such as un-monitored stack of ballots

· Pick the “fights” you can “win”

· Increase communication to media (broadcast) in ways that get it into the mainstream

· To address apathy (Some people felt betrayed by Kerry, et. al.), help people feel the importance of their votes, the consequences of electing someone by “error” rather than “mandate” and provide a message of hope and action

· Reform campaign financing to provide appropriate government financing to candidates to prevent the strong ties and temptations to favor lobbyists and special interest groups such as makers of voting equipment