Management Guidelines Security

1
Management Guidelines - Security

• Election Center Workshop
• April 19, 2007

2
Physical Security

• Conducting a Security Review
• Personnel
• Paper Ballots
• Voting Equipment and Peripheral Devices
• Election Process
• Preparation and Transportation
• In-person Early Voting
• Election Day Polling Place
• Closing and Tabulation
• Post-Election and Storage

3
Conducting a Security Review

• Review all internal policies and procedures
• Collect all components of your audit trail and
  checklists do you have dual sign-off?
• Review access/controls of office and storage
  facilities
• List all potential types of vulnerabilities
• Power failure
• Sprinkler system
• Building fire

4
Conducting a Security Review

• Develop plans to manage each threat
• Always have procedures reviewed by more than one
  person
• Ask County IT staff to review your procedures and
  provide suggestions and ideas for improvements

5
Conducting a Security Review

• Think about your long-term storage and security
  needs relating to facility and work space
  accommodations
• Develop asset and inventory control procedures
• Review chain of custody procedures
• Determine who has access to specific work areas
  and be sure that all keys are distributed to
  authorized personnel only

6
Security - Personnel

• Require all voting system employees to sign an
  oath of office
• Establish qualifications for voting system
  employees
• Perform background checks
• Develop policies/procedures for visitors and
  observers
• Sign-in/out log
• Numbered visitor badges

7
Security - Personnel

• Review procedures for managing the poll workers
  on Election Day
• Separation of duties
• Two-person integrity
• Ensure security of equipment and ballots at the
  polling place on Election Day

8
Security Paper Ballots

• Develop written policies and procedures to ensure
  strict control and custody of
• Optical Scan and/or Paper Ballots
• Ballot on Demand Ballots
• All Ballot Stock
• Minimum of two staff should be in place at all
  times
• Reconcile number of blank ballot stock, number of
  ballots printed, number of ballots spoiled, and
  number of unused ballots

9
Security Voting Equipment and Peripheral Devices

• Inventory and Asset Control
• Voting machines
• Optical scanners
• Communication devices
• Supervisor/administrator devices
• Activation devices
• Voter cards
• Storage media
• Etc.

10
Security Voting Equipment and Peripheral Devices

• Permit physical access by authorized personnel
  only
• Maintain signed security agreements
• Issue unique security code for tracking purposes
• Require staff to wear ID badges at all times
• Ensure that visitors, vendors, maintenance
  personnel, etc. sign in/out and wear ID badges
• Verify that video cameras are operational
• Change keys and/or combinations as necessary
  after elections

11
Security Voting Equipment and Peripheral Devices

• Establish procedures for managing the voting
  system
• Maintain listing of serial numbers
• Develop tracking system to manage distribution of
  equipment to other locations, i.e. polling place
  or vendor for repairs
• Maintain history of which devices were used for
  each election
• Catalog the types of repairs on each individual
  piece of equipment

12
Security Voting Equipment and Peripheral Devices

• Implement a method to track all components of the
  voting system
• Consider using barcodes to permanently identify
  each item, i.e. encoders, voter cards, PCMCIA
  cards, etc.
• Utilize an equipment delivery sheet to track
  location and description of equipment, including
  signatures of those involved with delivery and
  acceptance of the equipment

13
Security Election Process Preparation and
Transportation

• Use tamper-proof numbered seals on voting
  equipment access points
• Keep records of the following
• Voting machine serial number
• Serial number of all seals on each device
• Voting machine protective counter number
• Serial number of seals used to secure the device
  when the polls are closed

14
Security Election Process Preparation and
Transportation

• Ensure that all peripheral components remain in
  the possession of poll workers until the opening
  of the polls
• Equipment delivered to polling places must be
  secured in those locations
• Equipment should be transported in a controlled
  mode, i.e. locked and sealed at the beginning and
  unsealed upon delivery
• Removal of seals and resealing should be logged
  and completed by election officials

15
Security Election Process In-Person Early
Voting

• Follow the same delivery procedures as used for
  Election Day polling places
• Secure the voting machine storage media each
  night in a tamper-proof location
• Voting devices should be closed, sealed, and
  secured at the end of each day
• Seal numbers, protective counter numbers, etc.
  should be logged and verified prior to use

16
Security Election Process Election Day
Polling Place

• Poll workers should verify serial numbers of
  equipment and seals and confirm receipt of all
  voting equipment supplies
• Require two person integrity for all polling
  place operational procedures
• Poll workers should sign off on all equipment
  inventory forms, opening voting machines tapes,
  etc.

17
Security Election Process Election Day
Polling Place

• Poll worker training should reinforce that
• Access to equipment and storage media is
  controlled at all times
• Setup of equipment should ensure that poll
  workers can keep the equipment in plain view
• All administrator and/or ballot activation
  devices are controlled and accounted for
• All checklists and forms are completed and
  returned to the Election Office

18
Security Election Process Election Day
Polling Place

• Only authorized poll workers and voters should be
  permitted in the voting device area
• Poll workers should periodically inspect the
  voting devices for damage/tampering and to ensure
  that the device is still connected to electricity
• Establish procedures that permit poll workers to
  periodically balance voters checked in to voted
  ballots

19
Security Election Process Closing and
Tabulation

• Print end of day totals and return tapes and
  storage media in numbered, sealed pouches
• If modems are used
• Limit access control to the communication device
• Enable access only when uploads are expected
• Apply sufficient encryption and verification of
  data to protect the transmission

20
Security Election Process Closing and
Tabulation

• Election officials should validate any results
  transmitted by modem
• Consider installing video monitors in the vote
  tabulation area and/or providing uniformed
  security/police personnel
• Document your chain of custody procedures,
  including two-person accountability

21
Security Election Process Post Election and
Storage

• Again, only designated personnel should transport
  the equipment to storage
• Establish procedures to verify receipt of all
  equipment and supplies, including verification
  that the seals are intact
• Inventory all materials and securely store it
  during the lock-down period