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

[Booth Martin <booth@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Wayne, thank you.  This sounds like you guys in Louisiana are taking 
vote counts seriously?

I am curious: who audits the AS/400's security and software?  What 
assurances do you, yourself, have that one of the staff is not 
installing vote-enhancing procedures to the system?

I am not suggesting or questioning the integrity of the system, I am 
just curious from a technical point of view.


Wayne McAlpine wrote:
> 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.