BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 877
Page 1
Date of Hearing: January 15, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 877 (Bocanegra) - As Amended: January 6, 2014
SUBJECT : Direct recording electronic voting systems.
SUMMARY : Revises the definition of a "voter verified paper
audit trail (VVPAT)." Specifically, this bill defines a VVPAT
to mean a component of a direct recording electronic (DRE)
voting system that prints a "synchronous" paper record
"facsimile" of each electronic ballot, instead of a
"contemporaneous" paper record "copy" of each electronic ballot,
that allows each voter to confirm his or her selections before
the voter casts his or her ballot.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Prohibits the Secretary of State (SOS) from certifying or
conditionally approving a DRE, as defined, unless the system
includes a VVPAT, as defined.
2)Prohibits a city or county, on or after January 1, 2006, from
contracting for or purchasing a DRE unless the system has been
certified or conditionally approved for use by the SOS.
3)Requires a DRE used after January 1, 2006, to have an
accessible VVPAT.
4)Requires a DRE to include a method by which a voter may
electronically verify, through a nonvisual method, the
information that is contained on the paper record copy of the
voter's ballot. Requires a paper record copy that is printed
by the VVPAT to be printed in the same language that the voter
used when casting his or her ballot on the DRE.
5)Defines a VVPAT to mean a component of a DRE voting system
that prints a contemporaneous paper record copy of each
electronic ballot and allows each voter to confirm his or her
selections before the voter casts his or her ballot.
6)Defines a "paper record copy" to mean an auditable document
printed by a VVPAT component that corresponds to the voter's
electronic vote and lists the contests on the ballot and the
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voter's selections for those contest. Provides that a paper
record copy is not a ballot.
FISCAL EFFECT : Keyed nonfiscal by the Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
A Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting system is a type
of system that permits voters to enter their vote into a
digital system by means of an electronic interface such as
a touch screen, mouse or scrolling cursor. Generally
speaking, an interface device in each voting station is
linked to a Computer system. The results compiled by each
set of voting stations are then transmitted to a central
computer system using a variety of computer architectures
and transmission modes.
One variation of the DRE system provides a synchronous link
between the entry of a vote into a digital system and the
creation of a paper receipt facsimile that provides a voter
verified paper receipt and can be used in a paper-based
audit procedure. In this model, the vote is stored in the
database in a transactional and synchronous way. This
guarantees that the database transaction is not considered
as finished until each database node finishes its
transaction and then the receipt is sent to the voter when
the vote is successfully stored.
One of the challenges in permitting efficient verification
of voting results, and also demonstration of the integrity
of the vote, are the subjective elements generally involved
in determining voter intent. Voter intention in a DRE
system is a binary input from a digital device so ambiguity
cannot exist. There is a need for a voting system and
ballot collection apparatus that enables objective
measurement of voter intention and a method to verify
accurate data collection to demonstrate the integrity of
the vote.
This bill updates existing statutory language to reflect
accepted terminology for DRE systems and the synchronous
replication of a voter's ballot through a paper facsimile
that acts as a "receipt" for effective auditing and
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resolution of discrepancies regarding a voter's intent.
2)Direct Recording Devices : In general, DREs are paperless,
electronic voting systems that electronically process and
store all election data. A DRE allows a voter to view a
ballot on a screen and make ballot choices using an input
device, such as a pushbutton, touchscreen, or dial, which
records the voter's ballot choices. Some DRE systems also
employ a card swipe or cartridge system that must be activated
before the ballot can be cast. Through the input interface
the voter indicates his or her ballot selections. The voter's
choices are then stored via a memory cartridge, diskette, or
smart card. In most cases the memory device is transported to
a central location for tabulation.
3)Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail : In 2002, DRE devices were
certified for use in California. However, due to the way in
which DREs functioned, a voter would have no way of verifying
whether or not the voting system was correctly recording his
or her votes. For example, the machine could be displaying
one candidate's name on the screen while mistakenly or
maliciously storing another candidate's name on the official
electronic record as the voter's choice. According to a
Caltech/MIT Voting Project 2012 report, because of these
concerns, various studies were done and a number of teams
examined the voting systems' software and found that although
no overtly malicious code was found, the systems were so
poorly engineered that they exhibited a high risk of
compromise. Furthermore, the report states that other studies
that followed showed how the systems could be controlled by
malicious parties and infected by viruses.
In an effort to enhance voter confidence and ensure every vote
cast is counted, in 2004 Secretary of State Kevin Shelley
decertified DREs, requiring the vendors to retest and
recertify their equipment. Shortly after, Governor
Schwarzenegger signed legislation requiring all DREs to
produce VVPATs of electronic ballots to verify that the
voter's preferences were accurately recorded.
Consequently, current law requires all DRE voting systems used
after January 1, 2006, to have an accessible VVPAT. In
general, the VVPAT mechanism prints the voter's ballot choices
on a paper record for the voter to review and verify, prior to
finalizing and casting their ballot. Current law also
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requires voting systems to be accessible to blind, visually
impaired, and disabled voters. As a result, DREs are able to
provide or convey a voter's ballot choices via a nonvisual
method, such as through an audio component. Once the ballot
is cast, the paper record of the ballot is retained inside the
voting machine as part of the election audit trail to verify
the accuracy of the votes recorded. The paper record is made
available in the event of an audit or a recount. Current law
prohibits a voter from receiving a printed paper record of
their vote choices.
4)Unintended Consequences ? As mentioned above, current law
defines a "paper record copy" to mean an auditable document
printed by a VVPAT component that corresponds to the voter's
electronic vote and lists the contests on the ballot and the
voter's selections for those contests. In addition, existing
law explicitly states that a paper record copy is not a
ballot. Legislative intent indicates that a paper record
copy was created for verification purposes only and not
intended to be perceived as a replica or receipt of the
ballot, but merely a copy of the voter's selections which
cannot be physically handled by the voter. In addition,
existing law defines "VVPAT" to mean a component of a DRE
voting system that prints a contemporaneous paper record copy
of each electronic ballot and allows each voter to confirm his
or her selections before the voter casts his or her ballot.
According to the author's statement, the bill intends to update
existing statutory language to reflect accepted terminology
for DRE systems and the synchronous replication of a voter's
ballot through a paper facsimile that acts as a "receipt" for
effective auditing and resolution of discrepancies regarding a
voter's intent. Consequently this bill changes the term
"paper record copy" to "paper record facsimile" and revises
the definition of a "VVPAT" to mean a component of a DRE
voting system that prints a synchronous paper record facsimile
of each electronic ballot.
According to the author's office, replacing the term "copy" with
"facsimile" was to ensure consistency throughout the Elections
Code. However, while other parts of the Elections Code use
the term "facsimile," its meaning is interpreted differently.
For example, current law prohibits the SOS from approving any
voting system that permits a voter to exit a polling place
with a facsimile of the ballot cast by that voter at that
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polling place. The legislative intent behind the use of the
term "facsimile" was to encompass all items that could
plausibly serve as a "receipt" of a voter's selections. Using
the term "facsimile" with respect to DREs may cause confusion
as the legislative intent behind the term "copy" was to ensure
a paper record copy of a voter's ballot choices was created
for verification purposes, not to create an exact replica or
reproduction of the ballot itself. The committee may wish to
consider whether the use of the term facsimile is appropriate.
In addition, the bill does not provide a definition for the
new term "paper record facsimile," nor does it make
corresponding changes to other sections of law that use the
term "paper record copy."
Furthermore, the committee may wish to consider whether
revising the definition of "VVPAT" and changing the term
"paper record copy" is prudent as it is unclear whether the
new terms and their respective definitions will impact
currently approved DREs. In other words, the committee staff
is unsure if changing the DRE terms will result in creating
new standards that will impact currently approved DREs. Will
currently approved DREs meet the new standards? Will
currently approved DREs need to be recertified in order to
meet the new standards? At this point, it is unclear how the
changes in this bill will impact DREs currently approved for
use in California elections.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916)
319-2094