...This paper, copyright the IEEE, appears in IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy 2004. IEEE Computer Society Press, May 2004. This paper previously appeared as Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute Technical Report TR-2003-19, July 23, 2003. Analysis of an Electronic Voting System TADAYOSHI KOHNO∗ A DAM S TUBBLEFIELD† DAN S. WALLACH§ February 27, 2004 AVIEL D. RUBIN‡ Abstract With significant U.S. federal funds now available to replace outdated punch-card and mechanical voting systems, municipalities and states throughout the U.S. are adopting paperless electronic voting systems from a number of different vendors. We present a security analysis of the source code to one such machine used in a significant share of the market. Our analysis shows that this voting system is far below even the most minimal security standards applicable in other contexts. We identify several problems including unauthorized privilege escalation, incorrect use of cryptography, vulnerabilities to network threats, and poor software development processes. We show that voters, without any insider privileges, can cast unlimited votes without being detected by any mechanisms within the voting terminal software. Furthermore, we show that even the most serious of our outsider attacks could have been discovered and executed without access to the source code. In the face of such attacks, the usual worries about insider threats are not the only concerns; outsiders can do the damage. That...
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...In April of 2014 the Census Bureau gave an analysis of Presidential Elections for 1964 to 2012. (See figure 1.) (File, Thom. "Young-Adult Voting: An Analysis of Presidential Elections, 1964–2012." Www.census.gov. U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, 1 Apr. 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.) As you can see over the years voting percentages have dropped from 1964 to 2012 in almost every age group except in the 65 and older group. Another thing to notice would be that the age group of 18 to 24 years has always had the lowest voting rates out of every age group. This poses a serious problem and a big question, how are we going to fix it? A lot of people don’t think that the young people’s vote matters but those young people are going to grow up and if you start at...
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...Identifying the specific reason why Millennials have the lowest voting turning out rate than any other generation in history has been a question political analyst have been trying to determine for years. Millennials between 18 and 29 years old are approximately 550 million, yet they fail to out number the older generations during elections (Matta and Martin 1). Now, for the upcoming 2016 Presidential Election, it will be the first time the Millennial eligibility voting population will equal that of Baby Boomers. Investigating the reason for the absence of Millennials at the voting polls during the last decade of elections is important because if organized they are capable of having a major influence in shaping the government. When investigating...
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...Introduction Every four years, the United States presidential election becomes one of the country’s biggest news stories for a large chunk of that year. During this time there are a great many words both spoken and written about how people are going to vote and what factors supposedly lead them to vote a certain way. It seems that much of the time the analysis of these issues is of a qualitative nature, and with that in mind this paper will attempt to approach the problem from a statistical point of view. That is not to say there is a lack of quantitative research on how specific demographics tend to vote; indeed, some of the good data and information out there will be used to inform this paper’s hypotheses and econometric model. This study will focus on the 2012 U.S. presidential election Barack Obama and Mitt Romney (there were several other candidates on the ballot, but none received a significant portion of the votes). Pundits threw around seemingly countless factors in an attempt to analyze and predict how people would vote in this election; this paper will focus on a select group of those factors, in hopes of drawing some firm and well-grounded conclusions as to whether they actually played a statistically significant role. Countywide data will be utilized. The recent widespread availability of election results on a county-by-county level, combined with countywide information from the U.S. Census Bureau, allows for a very large number of observations (at least in...
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...Political advertising – a brief survey The empirical political advertising literature is limited. Most authors refer to Rothschild’s seminal (1978) article, which is both a review and a report on his tests of an involvement model. The level of involvement of voters in a particular election could depend on a wide range of factors, but Rothschild offers three general ones: 1. the level of the election (national/local etc.); 2. the closeness of the race; and 3. the volatility of the issues or candidates. There is some more recent work examining voter recall of political messages. Faber and Storey (1984), note voter responses to different messages and presentations (see, for example, Thorson et al., 1991), in particular negative ones (Faber et al., 1993; Garramone, 1984; Tinkham and Weaver-Lariscy, 1994). These studies used subjects in experimental groups rather than actual electoral or opinion poll data. More recently Ansolabehere and Iyengar (1995) have substantially added to the literature on negative advertising through the use of a very rounded and full quantitative and qualitative study which shows that a highly focused negative campaign can increase the turnout of those potential supporters predisposed to abstain by something in the order of approximately 29 per cent, thus maximising your supporters’ vote. Weaver-Lariscy and Tinkham (1987) investigated how Congressional election candidates evaluated different media and proposed six levels of response to political...
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...As well as social class, age is a long term factor which can influence voting behaviour. Analysis of data from 1945-1970, suggested that older voters were more likely to vote Conservatives than those younger and less likely than younger voters to vote Labour. This could be explained through the notion that as an individual gets older they become more concerned about their financial and personal security and believe Conservative governments are more likely to protect their interests than one of Labour. However, psephologists like Butler and Stokes explained that the relationship between age and voting is linked to the different processes of political socialisation and the notion of political generations. (Butler and Stokes, 1969) If an individual forms an allegiance with a particular party as an adult and continues to vote for that party throughout their life then they may be politically influenced by the prevailing climate...
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...problem. On the other hand, quantitative research is as important as qualitative research. Telephone surveys, mail surveys as well as online surveys are the different surveys methods used. The sample size is very large and intends to have a good representation of the voting public. Random digit dialing and lists of addresses are used as the sampling strategy. The findings of this research intends to answer of internet voting is effective and a good alternative voting method in the sense that it reduces the costs of public elections but at the same time be reliable and credible. The total cost of implementing this proposal is averaging to about AU$ 121785. The study should take no more than 3 months to complete Previous research literature on this issue shows a couple of key findings that are crucial to this research. It is important to know the costs of previous elections. The background paper shows that the previous election cost more than $95 million. There has been no previous trials on internet voting anywhere in Australia. In the United States, there have been concerns that internet voting brings about racial discrimination. Further concerns have arisen about home voting via the internet as for the security concerns. Another key note for this research is that certain segments of this population have been identified as perceiving the internet as threatening. The...
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...Ryan Brown COM 702 3/18/2010 Final Paper In his paper entitled Idolizing and Monetizing the Public: The Production of Celebrities and Fans, Representatives and Citizens in Reality TV, Yngvar Kjus explores audience participation theories and new media by analyzing both the Norwegian and American versions of Idol, a popular reality musical competition series. His exploration of the program via the analysis of collective participation, idolization, and production tactics ultimately unveil a well thought-out and persuasive spectacle that is not as real or grand as it comes off in societies around the globe. While Kjus does touch on theories like massive participation and voter behavior, there is certainly room in his paper for expansion on these topics as well as room for the inclusion of others. Over the course of multiple seasons of the Norwegian version of Idol, Kjus attends nine tapings and multiple production meetings in an attempt to answer his two main research questions. His questions set to find out how reality programs increase the participatory scope and empowerment of audiences and everyday people, as well as how television industries are reinventing themselves as new forms of media emerge, namely online and social media. Kjus starts the paper by presenting these research questions and then explores the history of reality TV and studio audiences, touching on game shows, talk shows, and docusoaps. He then gets into Idol, a show created by Simon Fuller...
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...Oprah, Obama, and the 2008 Democratic Primary Craig Garthwaite Department of Economics University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 Vmail: 202-746-0990 Email: cgarthwaite@gmail.com Tim Moore Department of Economics University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 Vmail: 301-442-1785 Email: moore@econ.umd.edu August 2008 Abstract Candidates in major political contests are commonly endorsed by other politicians, interest groups and celebrities. Prior to the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary, Barack Obama was endorsed by Oprah Winfrey, a celebrity with a proven track record of influencing her fans’ commercial decisions. In this paper, we use geographic differences in subscriptions to O! – The Oprah Magazine and the sale of books Winfrey recommended as part of Oprah's Book Club to assess whether her endorsement affected the Primary outcomes. We find her endorsement had a positive effect on the votes Obama received, increased the overall voter participation rate, and increased the number of contributions received by Obama. No connection is found between the measures of Oprah's influence and Obama's success in previous elections, nor with underlying local political preferences. Our results suggest that Winfrey’s endorsement was responsible for approximately 1,000,000 additional votes for Obama. JEL Classification Numbers: D7; D72 We are grateful to Bill Evans for his comments and guidance. We also would like to thank Kerwin Charles, Allan Drazen...
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...Thomas Whittemore Unit 3 Post University 1. How can Unions secure economic gains? Explain the ramifications Unions help economic growth, and they do not hinder them. Unions are out fighting for workers and getting them high pay and better pension benefits. This all translates into money that can be spent into a market economy. The more people buy products, the stronger and more powerful the economy becomes for everybody. To clarify - real unions are as important just as police, teachers, doctors etc. are necessary. Unfortunately in the US very few or none exist. Working men and woman who have fought and sacrificed for this country are the ones that have purchased true freedom and deserve to have voice 2. Briefly explain why organized labor was opposed to NAFTA. There has been significant opposition to NAFTA from organized labor. Unionists say NAFTA harms workers both here and in Mexico by taking U.S. jobs away and intensifying the exploitation of Mexican workers. Nearly half a million Mexicans already work in "maquiladoras" where over 1,500 mostly U.S.-owned assembly plants operate free of taxes and tariffs. Only about 10 percent are organized, compared to 25 percent of Mexican workers overall. Average pay runs from 50 cents to a dollar an hour. NAFTA will only intensify this exploitation as it lures corporations to set up runaway shops. Yet much of the opposition to NAFTA has been drawn on narrow lines and lets the capitalist system off the hook...
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...DEVELOPING AND MANAGING VOTERS REGISTRATION SYSTEM Introduction Voters’ registration is a process in which qualifying citizens are registered in order for them to be eligible to vote in an election. Voters registration is a process whose output is the voters’ roll which is basically a list containing the necessary details of all individuals who are eligible to cast their votes in an election. Governments operating under democratic principles around the world have to invest in this process in order to ensure smooth transition of power when time comes. Elections have been a major source of violence and consequently wars when one side feels that it wasn’t given a fair chance in the process. With this in mind, it is important for states to have proper voters roll in order to carry out elections in a credible and peaceful manner. If this process is not conducted in a transparent and collaborative manner, the credibility of the election process will as well be put into jeopardy at the end of the day. It this process which sets the stage of an election to be acceptable or add more credible reasons to rendered the election as not free and fair. In Tanzania, early voters’ registrations involved writing details of voters in a ‘counter’ book and have that book retrieved for verification on the Election Day. Voters were not given any sort of identification for them to keep as a form of authentication; no photographs of the ‘would be’ voters were being taken or kept by the registration...
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...owned subsidiary of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, one of Canada’s largest pension systems. Glass Lewis currently maintains approximately 37% of the market share for proxy advisory services. Glass Lewis provides services to shareholders to research and provide analysis proposals being put up for a vote. These votes analyzed include, election of Board members, ratification of compensation, ratification of the auditors, changes in the company's bylaws, companies strategy and exposure to risks and other important or relevant social and environmental issues that may have a significant impact to the companies long term performance. Glass Lewis empowers institutional investors that collectively manage $20 trillion to make sound voting decisions by uncovering and assessing governance, business, legal, political and accounting risks at issuers domiciled in 100 countries. Services Viewpoint: vote management platform that supports all aspects of governance program, from the engagement of members before, during and after the proxy season, to the implementation of custom policies, to the internal collaboration that results in a final vote decision Proxy Paper: features case-by-case, independent analysis of all the proposals contained in tens of thousands of meetings held each year across more than 100 markets worldwide. Meetyl: a global, web-based platform that helps users drive maximum returns of hundreds of users that can access the broadest universe of best-fit meetings...
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...to be on the electoral roll and to vote at federal and state elections for all citizens over eighteen years of age. However, it has not always been the case. At the beginning of the 20th century most men and women were eligible to vote except for indigenous people who were excluded. Following poor voter turnout in a previous election, compulsory voting was introduced in 1924. In 1962 Indigenous people gained the right to vote and it was made compulsory for them in 1984. In 1973 the voting age was changed from twenty-one to eighteen (Skwirk , 2014). The following discussion will argue that the benefits of compulsory voting far outweigh the disadvantages. In our society we have certain obligations like paying taxes, compulsory education and jury duty. Compulsory voting is just another civic duty much less onerous than any of the above. Australia is one of only eleven countries to enforce participation in elections. A 94% voter turnout for the last federal election compared favourably to 65% in the 2010 United Kingdom election and 57% in the 2012 United States presidential election (Padmanabhan, 2015). The argument that compulsory voting is incompatible with democratic government obviously does not apply to Australia that is considered one of the most transparent, representative and least corrupt nations of the world (White, 2013). The whole point of freedom is that everyone has a say and a responsibility to voice their opinion. Fifty per cent or less voter turnout is not a democracy...
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...JS 5/1/2013 POLS 3315-001 Party Issue Valuations and Reassessments Why do political parties in the United States abandon or revisit specific issues? Moreover, what is the driving force behind a party making an issue politically salient? Some examples that could be correlated with these questions could be why the Republican Party has stayed silent on issues that many old-guard Democrats feel is contentious in the current administration, why the sudden recent ideological transformation of conservative party, or why many politicians steer clear from Wall-Street related subjects (even though lashing out against bankers these days is sure to garner some attention, and most likely support from the general public). All of these examples and more will be discussed in order to provide a sufficient answer as to why issues are left behind in the dust or put out prominently on display. There are numerous factors and variables to consider when trying answering such a question, one of which could be racial factors. It’s been largely documented that Latinos have been an increasingly growing electorate, going from 1 percent of voters from the 1950s to over 11% in the twenty-first century (Abramowitz 27). With this information in mind, it would make sense that the Democratic establishment is today trying to initiate immigration reform in the United States Senate, knowing that they’ll have an increasing amount of support from their Latino electorate. It should also be noted that although...
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...Introduction to Political Analysis Question: Using illustrations from attempts at voter suppression and the challenges to these attempts, examine the strengths and weaknesses of the electoral system in the United States. Name: Winston Walker Course Code: GOVT 1000 ID #: 607005957 No electoral system is perfect, but the strengths and weakness of the electoral system is based on the system of government used. The two most common systems of government are the Federal system and the Unitary system. According to dictionary.com, the term electoral system refers to, the legal system for making democratic choices. The United States of America operate under a federal system of government, which by definition, refers to a government in which the powers of government are divided between a central government and several local governments. The electoral system of the United States is set up in this manner, you vote for a mayor, senator, a member of the House of Representatives, you vote directly for that person. However, when you vote for president, you are really voting for an elector who has pledged to represent that candidate. The electors chosen by each state are called the Electoral College. This consists of 538 members, comprising 100 senators, 435 congressmen, and 3 members from the District of Columbia. States with large populations, like California have over 50 electoral votes, while sparsely populated states like Alaska has only 3 electoral votes. This system...
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