The Election Verification Network

Emerging Voting Technologies
This session will present a number of innovative voting technologies that seek to make voting more efficient, usable, verifiable and inclusive. Panelists will present novel election results reporting systems, visual verification software for scanned ballot images, remote unsupervised voter verification using voice fingerprinting and efforts to standardize and wrangle electoral data for the Voter Information Project.

Evolution of Election Protection – Getting Ready for 2012
Election Protection continues to be the nation’s largest non-partisan voter protection coalition and a leader in ensuring traditionally disenfranchised voters are able to fully participate in our democracy. Join national and state leaders as they discuss the problems they saw in 2010. This discussion won’t just be a rehash of the past, panelists will also discuss the steps needed between now and the 2012 elections to continue to expand access to the ballot box, and preview issues the coalition expects to deal with in 2012.

Improving Ballots: Working from Inside Elections Departments
What can happen when a designer gets to work on election materials? AIGA Design for Democracy Design Fellows work with Election Departments, where they work on the design of ballots, voter education material, voter registration forms, from within the department. One panelist has just completed two years as a Design Fellow in Washington state, and will review the scope of work she completed, including her work with Hart to update paper ballot templates to the EAC design guidelines. We will round out the panel with two other case studies: teaching election officials to run usability tests, and working on the design and usability of a cumulative ballot in Port Chester, New York.

Strategies and Policies to Modernize Voter Registration
Our nation’s antiquated and cumbersome system of registration continues to pose the greatest barrier to the ballot box for American voters. According to an academic study by the Cooperative Congressional Election Survey, four million to five million voters did not participate in the 2008 presidential election due to problems with their voter registration or absentee ballots. There are several innovative reforms being implemented or contemplated at the state and federal level. Join election officials, advocates and academics as they discuss innovative ways to modernize voter registration.