NISTHQ.jpg

[Image courtesy of windcurrent]

Over the next three days, election officials, technologists, researchers and others will gather at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for a symposium co-hosted with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The occasion is a wide-ranging and important symposium on the future of election systems, including trends, certification and design issues likely to affect every jurisdiction in the not-so-distant future.

The symposium will be webcast starting at 8:30am Tuesday here – in addition, you can follow the meeting via Twitter using the hashtag #FOV13.

The agenda (site links to presenter bios and abstracts):

Day 1: “Trends in Voting Systems”

“Framing the Discussion on the Future of Voting Systems”
Brian Hancock, Director of Testing and Certification, EAC

“An Overview of the Election Technology Landscape”
Dr. Michael Alvarez, California Institute of Technology

“Trends in Voting Systems”
Moderator: Matt Masterson, Deputy Elections Administrator, Office of the Ohio Secretary of State

Panelists:
Dean Logan, Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, Los Angeles County
Dana DeBeauvoir, County Clerk, Travis County, Texas
Stephen Trout, Director of Elections, Oregon Secretary of State
Whitney Quesenbery, WQusability

“Web-Based Technologies Supporting Elections”
Moderator: David Wagner, University of California, Berkeley

Panelists:
Helen Purcell, Maricopa County Recorder, Maricopa County, Arizona
Linda Lamone, State Administrator of Elections, Maryland
Jeremy Epstein, SRI International
Paul Lux, Supervisor of Elections, Okaloosa County, Florida

“Voting System Manufacturers Look to the Future”
Moderator: John Wack, NIST

Panelists:
Ian Piper, Dominion Voting Systems
Ken Carbullido, Election Systems and Software
Craig Reines, Everyone Counts
Eddie Perez, Hart
Michelle Shafer, SOE Software, a Scytl Company
McDermot Coutts, Unisyn

Day 2: “Standards, Testing and Certification”

“Challenges in the Current Voting System Standards and Certification Process”
Mark Skall, Technical Reviewer, EAC

“Overview of Product Conformity Assessment and Examples of Various Approaches to Certification”
Gordon Gillerman, NIST

“Overview of Standards Development Processes”
Moderator: Belinda Collins, Former NIST Senior Advisor for Voting Standards

Panelists:
David Wollman, NIST
John Wack, NIST
David Baquis, U.S. Access Board
Anne Caldas, Senior Director, Procedures and Standards Administration, ANSI

“What we need in Voting System Standards”
Moderator: Mary Brady, NIST

Panelists:
Matt Masterson, Deputy Elections Administrator, Office of the Ohio Secretary of State
Doug Jones, University of Iowa
Clayton Lewis, Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities, NIDRR
Jack Cobb, Pro V&V

“Exploring Alternative Methods and Goals for Federal Testing and Certification”
Moderator: Merle King, KSU Center for Election Systems

Panelists:
Brian Hancock, Director of Testing and Certification, EAC
Ed Smith, Vice President, Compliance and Certification, Dominion Voting Systems
Chris Thomas, State Director of Elections, Michigan Secretary of State
Joe Hall, Center for Democracy and Technology
Tom Caddy, Technical Reviewer, EAC

“The Evolving Nature of State Certification”
Moderator: Jessica Myers, Certification Program Specialist, EAC

Panelists:
Merle King, Center for Election Systems, Kennesaw State University
Ryan Macias, Office of the California Secretary of State
Joe Losco, Professor and Chair of Political Science, Ball State University
Robert Warren, NY State Board of Elections

Day 3: “Perspectives on Voting Systems”

“The Challenges of Balancing Usability and Security in Future Voting Systems”
Dana Chisnell, UsabilityWorks

“Academics and Technologists Look at the Future”
Moderator: Daniel Castro, ITIF

Panelists:
David Wagner, University of California, Berkeley
Joe Hall, Center for Democracy and Technology
Juan Gilbert, Clemson University
Josh Benaloh, Microsoft Research

I wouldn’t be surprised to see the discussions over the next few days setting a large part of the voting technology policy agenda going forward; check it out if you can!