Continued from p. 2a

II. GENERAL DISCUSSION -- HOW COMPUTERIZED ELECTIONS CAN FAIL.

B) TRADITIONAL ELECTION SYSTEMS

In a "traditional" election, rules and processes have evolved to reduce cheating and allow the electorate to trust the outcome. The traditional voting process attempts to clearly deal with "Anonymity" and "Accountability" as mutually exclusive processes.

1) A voter registers beforehand, allowing a registrar to check the information and prevent someone from registering in two precincts at the same time. On election day, voting lists are sent to each precinct. (Accountability)

2) A voter signs in at the polling place and takes a ballot. (Accountability)

3) A voter goes to a generally viewable area (Accountability), and marks the ballot, but out of sight of direct viewing. (Anonymity)

4) A voter folds the ballot or places it in an envelope (Anonymity) and deposits it in a ballot box in general view. (Accountability)
The ballots mix, unseen, within the ballot box. (Anonymity)
The ballot box is closed. (Accountability)

5) At the end of the day, and with multiple witnesses, the ballot box is opened at each precinct, and the ballots are counted. (Accountability)

6) The precinct counts are aggregated into final counts. (Accountability)

7) If there are any questions afterward, then the ballots are phyically available for individual inspection and recount. (Accountability)

The above process is "Visible" (transparent), and the few transitions between "Anonymity" and "Accountability" are clear and viewable. If this clarity of process is not followed, election officals are open to criticism and legal action.

This voting process can be viewed as a series of colored boulders or stepping stones -- one color for "Anonymity" and a different color for "Accountability". As a voter steps through the process, he knows clearly where he is in the process -- that is, what color of boulder he is stepping to or from.

-> Continued on p. 2C: C) THE STRUCTURE OF COMPUTERIZED ELECTION SYSTEMS