Public Evidence from Secret Ballots

Elections seem simple---aren't they just counting? But they have a unique, challenging combination of security and privacy requirements. The stakes are high; the context is adversarial; the electorate needs to be convinced that the results are correct; and the secrecy of the ballot must be ensured. And they have practical constraints: time is of the essence, and voting systems need to be affordable and maintainable, and usable by voters, election officials, and pollworkers. It is thus not surprising that voting is a rich research area spanning theory, applied cryptography, practical systems analysis, usable security, and statistics. Election integrity involves two key concepts: convincing evidence that outcomes are correct and privacy, which amounts to convincing assurance that there is no evidence about how any given person voted. These are obviously in tension. We examine how current systems walk this tightrope.Comment: To appear in E-Vote-Id '1

The European Citizens' Initiative: An Early Assessment of the European Union's New Participatory Democracy Instrument

The world's first transnational, digital right of initiative, the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) took effect on April 1, 2012, when the EU Regulation on the citizen's initiative (No 2011/2011) entered into force. The ECI gives citizens within European Union (EU) Member States the right to call on the European Commission to propose new or change existing EU legislation. For an ECI to be considered, the subject matter must be within the Commission's legislative competence and organizers must gather at a minimum 1 million signatures (0.2 percent of the EU's population of 502 million) from at least 1?4 of EU Member States (currently seven) in one year. Nine months on, the new instrument has met with several difficulties in this experimental phase of implementation, and only eight ECIs have been able to start online signature collection

Building a Multimodal, Trust-Based E-Voting System

This paper addresses the issue of voter identification and authentication, voter participation and trust in the electoral system. A multimodal/hybrid identification and authentication scheme is proposed which captures what a voter knows – PIN, what he has – smartcard and what he is – biometrics. Massive participation of voters in and out of the country of origin was enhanced through an integrated channel (kiosk and internet voting). A multi-trust voting system is built based on service oriented architecture. Microsoft Visual C#.Net, ASP.Net and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition components of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 was used to realize the Windows and Web-based solutions for the electronic voting system

Rational choice meets the new politics: choosing the Scottish Parliament’s electoral system

Although there has been extensive research about electoral system choice at the national level, we know relatively little about the dynamics of deciding the rules of the game for sub-state institutions. This article examines the factors that influenced the choice of a proportional electoral system for the new Scottish Parliament in 1999. Through the use of archival sources and interviews with key participants, we challenge the conventional rational choice explanation for the adoption of the mixed-member proportional (MMP) system. Although rational considerations on the part of the Labour Party were involved in the choice of MMP, our findings suggest that, as at the national level, theories of electoral system choice need to consider normative values as well

The 'Cat's Paw of Dictatorship': State Security and Self-Rule in the Gold Coast, 1948 to 1957

On February 28th, 1948, a deadly police shooting at a veteran’s demonstration in the Gold Coast sparked three days of rioting in the capital city of Accra and surrounding communities. It was the first crisis of its kind for the British colony and a clear indication of the shifting political realities of the post-war era. Though colonial rule had been in place for several generations, the people of the Gold Coast would increasingly balk at an imperial system that denied them a voice in their own government. The following nine years would witness the Gold Coast’s extraordinary transition from British colony, to self-ruled territory, and eventually an independent state that renamed itself the Republic of Ghana.In the more than sixty years since Ghana’s independence in 1957, scholars and commentators alike have recognized the February riots as a turning point in Ghanaian and imperial history, signaling the new wave of decolonization that would sweep across sub-Saharan Africa in the years to follow. What has remained unknown and relatively unstudied is the fact that the riots also compelled the development of a government intelligence network in the Gold Coast. Before British officials accepted that colonial rule was as its end in West Africa, they sought to safeguard the state by providing it a domestic intelligence organization. This organization operated throughout the terminal years of British rule in the Gold Coast and succeeded in both altering the nature of the colonial state and the process of decolonization in unexpected ways.This dissertation interrogates the role of government intelligence in the Gold Coast between the years of 1948 and 1957. By examining police superintendents, Security Service officers, and colonial administrators, it reconstructs the establishment and application of intelligence resources to better understand the process and politics of decolonization in the Britain’s West African empire

Is there Space for "Genuine Autonomy" for Tibetan Areas in the PRC's System of Nationalities Regional Autonomy?

This article considers whether room exists within the current system of nationalities regional autonomy (NRA) in China to accommodate Tibetan aspirations for "genuine autonomy" under the People's Republic of China (PRC) sovereignty. It examines the legal framework for NRA in China, as well as Chinese government policy and practice toward autonomous areas, in terms of the limitations and possibilities they imply for realizing Tibetan aspirations for autonomy, highlighting specific areas of concern, opportunities and constraints. It explores the development of political and legal approaches toward autonomy since the 1930s, the nature of the current framework and how recent legal and political developments interact with that framework. It looks at options for autonomy under the Chinese Constitution and national legislation, particularly the self-government of nationality (minority) autonomous areas as well as Article 31 of the Constitution which has provided the basis for the establishment of special administrative regions (SARs). Since autonomous areas also exercise the general powers of local governments in the PRC, it describes the general system of local government at the provincial and lower administrative levels. The article examines the practical implementation and operation of minority autonomy and SARs including the apparent gap between law and practice. In particular, special attention is paid to the role of the Chinese Communist Party and its officials which have a significant impact on the exercise of state powers. It concludes that there are formidable obstacles to the autonomy that Tibetans seek in order to preserve their culture, values and identity. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2010.postprin

Insulating Incumbent Judges from the Vicissitudes of the Political Arena: Retention Elections as a Viable Alternative

This Note proposes legislation that would cure many deficiencies in the present system of judicial tenure in New York. First, the Note examines the present retention system for trial court judges in New York State in light of the strict standards of judicial ethics the CJC imposes on sitting judges. Part II analyzes several problems in the current reelection process, focusing on the complex predicament a judicial incumbent faces as a result of having to return to the political arena. Part III then explores three possible alternatives to the present reelection system.\u27 Finally, the Note recommends that the New York State Legislature amend the state constitution and implement a method of retention that would allow a sitting judge to remain in office with the approval of the voters without being subject to a primary or general election

From ‘Warlord’ to ‘Democratic’ President: how Charles Taylor won the 1997 Liberian elections

For the best part of seven years, an increasing number of warring factions fought a vicious civil war for control of the West African state of Liberia. In August 1996, the fourteenth peace accord led to presidential and parliamentary elections in July of the following year. Charles Taylor and his National Patriotic Party (NPP), formed out of the original invasion force, emerged victorious with a landslide 75 per cent of the vote. Given the international reputation of Taylor as a brutal warlord whose sole aim had never wavered from the capture of power in Monrovia, Taylor's across-the-board victory appears difficult to explain. Having concluded that, despite problems and allegations, the election did seem more free and fair than not, the article examines the factors that probably influenced the electorate's choices. The results of this research show an election heavily dependent on an uncertain security situation. However, it suggests that, although a former ‘warlord’ has been rewarded, the voting was a reasoned ploy by the electorate to maximise the possibility of improved living conditions