Re: Guess they didn't use an iSeries...

[Wayne McAlpine <wayne.mcalpine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The major players in the voting machine market are ES&S, Diebold, and 
Sequoia.  All of them are basically trying to market a turnkey solution 
for smaller jurisdictions like counties.  The software includes modules 
for candidate qualifying, ballot assembly, and vote tabulation.  All of 
these functions are running on the AS/400, not the vendor's package. 
Sequoia worked with us originally to develop an interface to the AS/400 
that would allow the direct upload of vote totals, which was all that we 
required of the machines.  Other vendors were less successful at 
integrating with our existing custom software.

It's been a few years since I participated in a full-scale evaluation of 
voting machines, but the Diebold system, as I recall, is based on 
Windows CE software.  ES&S and Sequoia use a proprietary package.  We 
have had both the Sequoia and the ES&S systems in production.  Sequoia 
just won a competitive bid to supply all of the state's voting machines. 
  There is a tremendous amount of money available right now for the 
upgrade of election systems nationwide under the Help America Vote Act 
(HAVA) that was passed in response to the 2000 debacle in Florida.

A full face machine is one that allows you to see the entire ballot 
without having to scroll up and down.  Generally, these are simpler for 
the voter to use and allow for faster voting, particularly on long and 
complicated ballots.  The Sequoia machine uses membrane swithes in a 
matrix that are overlaid with a printed ballot, not a touch screen. 
There is a pre-programmed cartridge for each machine that is removed at 
the close of the polls.  It contains the vote totals and these are 
uploaded to the AS/400 for tabulation.

Incidentally, we also use the AS/400 to serve up election results on the 
internet.  Our Model 740 is capable of handling the concentrated volume 
of web hits that we receive on election night, numbering over a million 
in a four-hour window.  Here's a link to the upcoming municipal 
elections in New Orleans if you want to take a look.  Twenty-three (!) 
people are running in the open primary to replace incumbent mayor Ray Nagin.

http://www.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcinq&rqsdta=start






Booth Martin wrote:
> Would you be willing to talk a bit more about this?  How do you believe 
> it compares with the Diebold solution?  Until right now I had believed 
> the only computer solution out there was the new Diebold system that has 
> been in the news so much?
>
> Wayne McAlpine wrote:
>
> > We have been using the AS/400 since 1992 as the backbone of Louisiana's 
> > election system.  All of the code was written in-house and interfaces 
> > seamlessly with the Sequoia system.  Sequoia uses a full-face voting 
> > machine, not a touch screen like most of the others.