Author Topic: San Francisco looking for new voting system  (Read 3714 times)

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Offline ak

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Yes, we are very aware of this RFI...

Follow My Vote is a member of the California Association of Voting Officials. They analyzed the RFI and submitted the response, which can be found here:

http://sfgov2.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/elections/rfi/20150820_CAVO.pdf

Upon review, you will see a push for leveraging open-source voting systems. You may also note that Brent Turner, President of CAVO, refers to the Dechert Design, which is a paper ballot printing system. I've spoken to Alan Dechert at length about his design, which is based on an old paradigm of what is possible from a technology perspective prior to the advent of blockchain technology. Now that we've entered the dawn of a new era in technology that allows for secure and transparent online voting, even the "state of the art" Dechert Design is in need of a complete overhaul, which is something I will be connecting with Brent about in the days ahead.

On a somewhat related note, I recently spoke to Jeff Drobman, whom recently ran for Secretary of State in California this past November. Although he ran and lost, he was able to get around 5% of the votes, which is not too shabby. He came up with his own design and was running on a platform where the sole focus was to see to it that an online voting system was successfully implemented within the state. When discussing his design, it was clear that he understands the challenges that are involved in designing a secure and verifiable online voting solution.

My conversation with Jeff was actually a very refreshing conversation. During our discussion, he stated that I we were the only company that he's spoken to that actually gets it and that he considers us to be leading the movement with respect to the recent push for end-to-end verifiable online voting systems, which is now being officially recognized as the future of voting:

http://editions.lib.umn.edu/electionacademy/2015/07/13/new-report-examines-future-of-internet-voting/

We're at a very interesting time within the industry and I believe we are truly making a turning point towards the type of solution we've been proposing all along, which is end-to-end verifiable online voting systems.


Offline hrossik

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Are we aware of this? http://sfgov2.org/index.aspx?page=4892

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On behalf of the City and County of San Francisco (City), the San Francisco Department of Elections (Department) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) in relation to obtaining a new voting system. The Department seeks information from organizations and firms that provide comprehensive voting system solutions that are fully accessible to all voters, are based on voters marking paper ballots, and conduct ranked-choice elections, as defined in San Francisco’s Charter section 13.102. Further, the City has established a policy that gives preference to implementing voting systems designed using open source software. Additionally, the Department seeks to increase the transparency of all election functions by providing the public with information in open data formats. The Department invites responses from any organization or firm that currently offers a voting system approved by the California Secretary of State for use in California as well as any organization or firm that is building or intends to build such voting systems. 

To ensure fair and equal access to information, the Department will post any questions, requests for clarification or additional information, and the Department’s responses, on this page.
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