Title: Office of Secretary of State Statewide Uniform Electronic Voting Initiative
1Office of Secretary of State Statewide Uniform
Electronic Voting Initiative
22002 Amended Budget Request
Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
- Statewide Uniform Electronic Voting
- Senate Bill 213, established a new law
- Voting Equipment to be the same in every county
by July, 2004 - 21st Century Voting Commission Created
- Consisting of state and local officials
- Develop recommendations for selecting a uniform
system of voting - Oversee electronic voting equipment pilot
project using direct record electronic (DRE)
systems
3 Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
Voting Commission Profile
- Strong Legislative Voice
- Five Legislators Served
- 3 from the House, 2 from the Senate
- Balanced Multi-partisan Membership
- 4 Democrats, 4 Republicans, 8 Non-Partisan, 1
Independent and 1 Libertarian.
4Statewide Uniform Electronic Voting
Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
- 21st Century Voting Commission
- Reviewed election data for Georgia other states
- Held public meetings throughout Georgia
- Observed various elections using DRE in
California, Ohio, South Carolina Florida - Opportunity to learn from election officials in
other states who were upgrading their voting
systems - Opportunity to see how voters themselves adapted
to the change - Established schedule for DRE pilot project
5Statewide Uniform Electronic Voting
Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
- November 2001 Pilot Project
- 13 municipal elections in every region of Georgia
- 6 different types of DRE voting equipment used
- Voter Education Public awareness raised
- Voter Education Coordinators
- Conducted outreach programs to inform voters
ease apprehension - Instructions mailed to registered voters
- Training Local election officials trained to
operate the system to conduct the election
6Statewide Uniform Electronic Voting
Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
Pilot Project Cities
Rome
Canton
Suwanne
Lithonia
Decatur
LaGrange
Hogansville
Statesboro
Buena Vista
West Point
Dawson
Reidsville
Thomasville
7Statewide Uniform Electronic Voting
Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
- November 2001 Pilot Project
- 13 municipal elections in every region of Georgia
- 6 different types of DRE voting equipment used
- Voter Education Public awareness raised
- Voter Education Coordinators
- Conducted outreach programs to inform voters
ease apprehension - Instructions mailed to registered voters
- Training Local election officials trained to
operate the system to conduct the election
8Statewide Uniform Electronic Voting
Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
- November 2001 Pilot Project
- Reaction to Electronic Voting
9 Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
10Statewide Uniform Electronic Voting
Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
- November 2001 Pilot Project
- - Gauge public response to new voting
technology - UGAs Survey Research Center exit poll showed
overwhelming support for new statewide electronic
form of voting.
11Statewide Uniform Electronic Voting
Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
- November 2001 Pilot Project
- More than nine out of ten found electronic voting
easier to use
12Statewide Uniform Electronic Voting
Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
- November 2001 Pilot Project
- Elderly voters equally pleased with DRE
- Large of seniors polled found electronic voting
easy as well.
13Statewide Uniform Electronic Voting
Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
- Why DRE Instead of Optical Scan?
- DRE offers greater accessibility to the
disabled - - Visually impaired may vote independently
- DRE prevents overvote mitigates undervote
- - Cannot cast more votes than allowed per
contest - - Reminder/Summary screen allows review of votes
cast - Long-term administrative costs not
significantly different for DRE v. optical scan - DRE establishes a platform with current
technology from which future election
improvements can be pursued
14Examples of Optical Scan Ballots
Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
15Examples of Optical Scan Ballots
Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
16Statewide Uniform Electronic Voting
Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
- Why DRE Instead of Optical Scan?
- DRE offers greater accessibility to the
disabled - - Visually impaired may vote independently
- DRE prevents overvote mitigates undervote
- - Cannot cast more votes than allowed per
contest - - Reminder/Summary screen allows review of votes
cast - Long-term administrative costs not
significantly different for DRE v. optical scan - DRE establishes a platform with current
technology from which future election
improvements can be pursued
17Options for Current Equipment
Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
- Counties may sell its current voting systems to
jurisdictions outside of Georgia. - Resale market for many systems is strong.
- Funds raised from equipment sales is the Countys
to keepcan be reinvested to address other local
needs or to enhance election operations.
18Statewide Uniform Electronic Voting
Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
- Commission Recommendations
- Unanimously Approved
- DRE voting equipment should be used for
precinct-level in person voting - Optical Scan balloting should be used for mail-in
absentee balloting - An integrated election management system should
be used to design produce ballots for both
forms of voting - State should leverage buying power for the long
term benefit of local governments
19Statewide Uniform Electronic Voting
Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
- Uniform Voting Equipment
- Governors Recommendations 54,000,000
- Funds all needed equipment in place statewide for
November 2002 General Election Bond Funds - DRE voting units.
- Uniform Statewide ballot management software.
- Absentee voting units (uniform OptiScan).
- Equipment for ADA.
- Hands on technical support for 2002 General and
2004 Primary election. - Training of election personnel.
20Statewide Uniform Electronic Voting
Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
- Voter Education Initiative
- FY2002 933,518 FY 2003 2,866,586
- Regional voter education coordinators (1
state-wide supervisor and a regional coordinator
in each of the 12 Service Delivery Regions) and
support costs - Matching grant program for county voter education
coordinators (FY 2003) - Voter education video How to Vote on new
uniform system - Production of voter education PSAs and air time
- Direct mailing to every active registered voter
- Voter education publications
21Statewide Uniform Electronic Voting
Office of Secretary of
State Cathy Cox
- Election Official Technical Support Training
- FY2002 0 FY 2003 500,000
- Establish centralized technical support Help
Desk through creation of Center for Election
Systems at Kennesaw State University - Center start-up in conjunction with uniform
system rollout at direction of Dr. Brit Williams - Ongoing source of support after vendor deployment
is complete - Creating a mock-precinct for election
official/poll worker training on DRE systems