Elections Security Report
Findings Released
December 24, 2007
Monday AM
In a press conference held Friday, Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell
and the University of Alaska Anchorage released Phase 1 results
of the Alaska Elections Security Project. Lieutenant Governor
Parnell and the Alaska Division of Elections commissioned the
study to examine the security and accuracy of the state's current
voting system, and asked the University to make recommendations
for improvement. The lieutenant governor was joined by Elections
System Manager Shelly Growden; UAA Project Lead Luann Piccard;
UAA Provost Mike Driscoll; Dean of Engineering Rob Lang; and
Director of the Institute for Social and Economic Research Steve
Colt.
Phase 1of UAA's Alaska Election Security Project revealed many
positive aspects of Alaska's Division of Elections procedures.
The study found that the Division of Elections systems and procedures
were "in many ways reassuring: Alaska's system has many
features that improve security. Those include paper back-ups
for electronic counts, cross-checking of vote counts in different
locations, and a centralized system for state and federal elections
throughout Alaska."
A number of potential vulnerabilities, including the transportation
of ballots and vote recording machines to the Bush, were also
identified and will be addressed in-depth in Phase 2 of the project,
which will continue over the next three months.
"I was pleased with the Phase 1 results," Lieutenant
Governor Parnell said today. "It shows that we're going
in the right direction, and that, even prior to the commission
of the study, we were meeting or exceeding security standards.
We also recognize, however, that there is room for improvement,
and we believe that nothing is more important than safeguarding
the public's trust and allowing their voices to be heard through
the ballot box. We look forward to continuing to partner with
UAA in improving our Elections systems."
On the Web:
To read the full report and
the Executive Summary, click on this link: http://www.elections.alaska.gov/election_security.php
To offer feedback on the report, click on this link:
http://www.elections.alaska.gov/email.php
Source of News:
Office of Lieutenant Governor
Sean Parnell
www.ltgov.state.ak.us
E-mail your news &
photos to editor@sitnews.us
Publish A Letter in SitNews Read Letters/Opinions
Contact the Editor
SitNews
©2007
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska
|