Black Box Voting 2.0 – a curated nonpartisan reporting and public education site for elections.
Organizing to achieve better election integrity involves coming together into a group, or social network, that acts in shared interest. In general, connecting with and building a network amplifies power. • Organizing can aim to create a durable organization, or it can be less formal and more temporary in character. • Organizing can promote consensus building, which may be viewed…
Election integrity research is any systematic investigation to discover facts or collect information in order to improve election transparency, fairness and accountability. Research includes methods such as observation to document election problems; case studies; quotations from experts and witnesses; tests, photo / video evidence, collection of costs and statistics. Some useful research sources are: • Public records • Video and…
Technology can make elections more accountable to the public, or less transparent, depending on how it is used. Technology to improve public accountability and transparency of elections: Technologies to enable on-the-spot video or photo capture of results, processes, or irregularities can help enormously to deter misconduct. Rapid, dispersed communication, enabled through electronic communication, can time-stamp information, making it more difficult…
Here is an example of carefully researched, professional, and articulate advocacy: Testimony by Tom Courbat before the California Assembly Elections Committee opposing AB 19, an Internet voting bill. My name is Tom Courbat. I am the former Finance Director for Riverside County, California and am a 100% disabled Army veteran. I have been monitoring elections for seven (7) years and was…
WHEN: Several months before the election; HOW: To improve the list of who can vote, create and publicize a mobile phone app to let everyone easily check the accuracy of voter registration information. This election protection tool was used successfully in Pakistan, by activating an SMS mobile phone text-messaging system available to everyone with access to a mobile phone. It helped correct voter list…
Yesterday as I was driving to work with a morning cappuccino in hand, the phone rang. “What do you think about your book being on Osama bin Laden’s bookshelf?” a reporter inquired. Bizarre. Odd. Stunning. What does one say about something so unexpected? “Well the Black Box Voting book has made its way to a lot of unusual places,” I…
Black Box Voting remarks submitted for California 3/11/14 meeting on Senate Select Committee on Science, Innovation and Public Policy To: Senator Padilla From: Black Box Voting Submitted March 11, 2014 I am the director of Black Box Voting, a national, nonprofit, nonpartisan election transparency organization. I respectfully submit the following remarks for the meeting of the Senate Select Committee on…
[Last updated 03/02/14] In April, 2012 the city of Cumming, Georgia blocked a citizen journalist from videotaping open meetings; in Dec. 2013, nearly two years later, the matter was still under mediation. Open meetings around the USA are frequently not only videotaped, but aired on public access TV. Videotaping is a crucial part of freedom of information because it captures…
(Original article 10/14/2005) According to a report by the Associated Press1 which raises more questions than it answers, new software was incorporated into Georgia’s Diebold touch-screen voting system in Spring 2005, slowing down the count for as much as 24 hours. The AP reports: Ballot-counting in next month’s Georgia elections may be slowed by security software, some local officials say….
