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Trenton
– The Attorney General’s Office
has retained the New Jersey Institute of
Technology to test samples of proposed voter-verified
paper record systems to be used for electronic
voting machines in New Jersey. These systems
are intended to produce individual permanent
paper records for each vote cast that can
be made available for inspection and verification
by voters and preserved for later use.
The testing will be managed by NJIT’s
Center for Information Age Technology and
performed by NJIT faculty to determine whether
the systems implement certain design, security,
reliability, and usability requirements.
This is the first time in New Jersey’s
history that the state has directly engaged
the assistance of computer consultants to
conduct independent testing as part of its
voting machine certification process. Prior
to this agreement, the state relied on reports
from national independent testing authorities.
The
collaboration with NJIT in Newark was finalized
as criteria were adopted by the Attorney
General for the design and use of voter-verified
paper record systems for electronic voting
machines. New Jersey law requires that all
electronic voting machines produce individual
permanent paper records for each vote cast
no later than January 1, 2008. The paper
record will be the “ballot-of-record”
in the event of recounts under state law.
“Secure
and fair elections are fundamental to the
democratic process,” Attorney General
Rabner said. “We are fully committed
to protecting the rights of the New Jersey
voters and the integrity of our elections.
Our ground-breaking relationship with NJIT
will further public confidence in the process
and ensure a paper trail which is accurate,
reliable and can be audited.”
Direct
electronic voting machines with voter-verified
paper record systems must include printers
and a display unit that will allow voters
to view their votes before recording their
electronic ballots. No vote will be recorded
until the paper record is viewed and approved
by the voter. If a voter rejects the contents
of the paper record, he or she may recast
a ballot up to two additional times.
The
paper receipts must then be stored securely
in the machine. Voters do not leave the
voting booths with copies of their votes,
and the paper receipts will not identify
voters.
The voter-verified paper record systems
will be subjected to testing by NJIT as
well as examination by the state Voting
Machine Examination Committee. The testing
and examination is to include volume testing
to simulate conditions that may overload
the systems’ capacity to process and
store data. The cost of testing and certifying
the voter verified paper record systems
will be the responsibility of voting machine
vendors.
Vendors
will be required to provide the source codes
for the electronic voting machines and the
voter-verified paper record systems to the
State or place the source code in escrow
to allow for independent testing.
The
criteria for voter-verified paper records
for direct recording electronic voting machines
has been posted on the Division of Elections
website at: www.nj.gov/oag/elections.
NJIT’s
Center for Information Age Technology was
established in 1983 to advise state, county
and municipal government in New Jersey on
technology, records management, strategic
planning, and systems evaluation. The NJIT
faculty conducting the testing have extensive
experience and knowledge in computers, networks,
electronics, security, data hiding, forensics
and statistics.
NJIT,
New Jersey's science and technology university,
enrolls more than 8,000 students in bachelor's,
master's and doctoral degrees in 92 degree
programs offered by six colleges: Newark
College of Engineering, New Jersey School
of Architecture, College of Science and
Liberal Arts, School of Management, Albert
Dorman Honors College and College of Computing
Sciences.
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