Transparency is the Best Policy: The case for Georgia to Allow Access to the Source Code of Proprietary Voting Software

Within the past century, electronic voting systems have become common place. Most states hold their elections via electronic voting machines. These voting machines require software, and that software is built out of source code. Most states, including the state of Georgia, use voting machines with proprietary software made by private companies to run their elections. These companies have pushed back against access to the source code of their software because of intellectual property issues related to trade secret and copyright law. Nonetheless, states have an interest in guaranteeing their elections are not vulnerable to attack or hacking, and voters want to feel confident about the election system in their state. One way to instill confidence and ensure secure elections is through state governments and election boards having access to the source code of the software in these machines. This Note explores the typical technologies involved in electronic voting, the history of electronic voting in the United States, the legislation that other states have passed that have allowed access or limited access to the source code of voting software, the legislation Georgia currently has regarding access to the source code of voting software, and why Georgia should adopt legislation regulating and allowing access to the source code of the voting software used in Georgia’s elections

How Partisan is the Press? Multiple Measures of Media Slant

We employ several different approaches to estimate the political position of Australian media outlets, relative to federal parliamentarians. First, we use parliamentary mentions to code over 100 public intellectuals on a left-right scale. We then estimate slant by using the number of mentions that each public intellectual receives in each media outlet. Second, we have independent raters separately code front-page election stories and headlines. Third, we tabulate the number of electoral endorsements that newspapers give to each side of politics in federal elections. Overall, we find that the Australian media are quite centrist, with very few outlets being statistically distinguishable from the middle of Australian politics. It is possible that this is due to the lack of competition in the Australian media market. To the extent that we can separate content slant from editorial slant, we find some evidence that editors are more partisan than journalists.competition, media bias, media slant, economics of elections

Getting elections right? Measuring electoral integrity

Holding elections has become a global norm. Unfortunately, the integrity of elections varies strongly, ranging from “free and fair” elections with genuine contestation to “façade” elections marred by manipulation and fraud. Clearly, electoral integrity is a topic of increasing concern. Yet electoral integrity is notoriously difficult to measure, and hence taking stock of the available data is important. This article compares cross-national data sets measuring electoral integrity. The first part evaluates how the different data sets (a) conceptualize electoral integrity, (b) move from concepts to indicators, and (c) move from indicators to data. The second part analyses how different data sets code the same elections, seeking to explain the sources of disagreement about electoral integrity. The sample analysed comprises 746 elections in 95 third and fourth wave regimes from 1974 until 2009. I find that conceptual and measurement choices affect disagreement about election integrity, and also find that elections of lower integrity and post-conflict elections generate higher disagreement about election integrity. The article concludes with a discussion of results and suggestions for future research

Statistical Analysis of Hispanic Voters’ Practices in Florida

The Hispanic population is composed of those that identify with a “Spanish-speaking background and trace their origin or descent from…Spanish-speaking countries.” This community is a growing one in the state of Florida. As of 2019, Hispanics make 26% of the state’s population, making them a key demographic in Floridian elections. Ergo, understanding Hispanic voters’ behavior in Florida is crucial for future elections. For starters, certain social factors have been related to voter behavior. The factors considered in this project are the voter’s generation, zip code population density, zip code income and Hispanic group in relation to their voter activity and voter party affiliation. Of all the factors, only generations and Hispanic groups affected both voter activity and voter party affiliation. Voter activity was also influenced by zip code income, while voter party affiliation was also influenced by zip code population density

The Legal Consequences of Supporting Candidates on Recommendation Sheets in an Illegal Way

In 2014 there were three elections in Hungary: the election of Members of Parliaments, the election of members of the European Parliament, furthermore, the elections of representatives and mayors of municipalities and of representatives of national minority local self-governments. The Hungarian Parliament passed a new act on electoral procedure in 2013 and we have had a new Criminal Code since 2012. This study examines a new legal institution, the recommendation sheets, which raise many questions, including criminal liability. The main theme of the study is the misuses related to recommendation sheets

Maine Code of Election Ethics

In the Margaret Chase Smith Essay, Gregory Gallant discusses the voluntary Maine Code of Election Ethics, sponsored and organized by the University of Maine’s Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and the Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan. The code is a voluntary effort designed to elevate political discourse in Maine’s federal and gubernatorial elections. Gallant reflects on the ways in which this code reinforces Margaret Chase Smith’s recognition of the critical role played by civic engagement in American society