Multiparty Politics in America (Second Edition

In the wake of Election 2000 and the Ralph Nader factor, this collection of original essays by leading political scientists examines the possibilities for and performance of minor parties in the American political system. Looking at the rise and fall of the Reform Party and the seeming upsurge in Green Party prospects, the authors present evidence and opinion about the viability of a multiparty system in the United States. New York party politics and congressional and state legislative elections add depth to our understanding of multiparty politics in action. A unique public opinion survey shows surprising variation in citizen\u27s attitudes toward minor parties and multiparty politics nationwide. Will minor parties flourish or flounder in the 2004 election season? This volume offers a variety of views that every voter should consider.https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/multiparty_politics2/1000/thumbnail.jp

Multiparty Politics in America (First Edition)

In the wake of Ross Perot, Ralph Nader, and other third party and independent candidates that ran in the 1996 election, this collection of original essays by leading political scientists and third party officials is must reading for individuals interested in American politics. Multiparty Politics in America examines the roles that third parties have played in U.S. elections past and present and their prospects for the future. It presents unique and detailed coverage of the Reform, Green, and Libertarian parties\u27 goals and campaign strategies; discusses the kinds of reforms that would help them become more viable; and advances the debate over whether the U.S. should have a two-party or multiparty system.https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/multiparty_politics1/1000/thumbnail.jp

AN EVALUATION OF MARYLAND'S NEW VOTING MACHINE

Four counties in Maryland used new touch screen voting machines in the 2002 elections, replacing their mechanical lever and punch card voting systems with the AccuVote-TS touch screen voting machine manufactured by Diebold Election Systems. The Center for American Politics and Citizenship (CAPC) and the Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL) at the University of Maryland conducted an exit poll in Montgomery and Prince George's counties to evaluate the performance of the new voting machines. In this second of two reports prepared by CAPC and HCIL on the new voting machines, we found that most voters like the new voting machines and trust them to accurately record their votes. However, a significant number of voters still have concerns about the new machines, many needed help using them, and some continue to report technical problems with the machines. Voters who do not frequently use computers or have not attended college had the most difficulty using the machines. Major Findings: * Seven percent of voters felt that the touch screen voting machine was not easy to use, compared to 93 percent who felt it was easy to use or held a neutral opinion. * Nine percent of voters did not trust the touch screen voting machine, compared to with 91 percent who did. Only 70 percent trusted the mechanical lever or punch card system they previously used. * Three percent of voters reported encountering technical problems with the new machines. * Nine percent of the voters asked for and 17 percent received assistance using the new machine. * More than one-quarter of the voters who use computers once a month or less received assistance using the voting machine. * One-third of voters who have not attended college received assistance using the voting machine. * Voters in Prince George's County found the election judges to be more helpful than did voters in Montgomery County. Four counties in Maryland used new touch screen voting machines in the 2002 elections. Alleghany, Dorchester, Montgomery, and Prince George's replaced their mechanical lever and punch card voting systems with the AccuVote-TS touch screen voting machine manufactured by Diebold Election Systems. All 24 of Maryland's counties will purchase AccuVote-TS voting machines by 2006. The University of Maryland conducted an exit poll in Montgomery and Prince George's Counties to assess the performance of the new voting machine. Our sample included 1,276 respondents from 22 precincts in the two counties. The response rate was 74.6 percent. (UMIACS-TR-2002-107) (HCIL-TR-2002-25

Scantegrity Responds to Rice Study on Usability of the Scantegrity II Voting System

This note is a response to, and critique of, recent work by Acemyan, Kortum, Bryne, and Wallach regarding the usability of end-to-end verifiable voting systems, and in particular, to their analysis of the usability of the Scantegrity II voting system. Their work is given in a JETS paper [Ace14] and was presented at EVT/WOTE 2014; it was also described in an associated press release [Rut14]. We find that their study lacked an appropriate control voting system with which to compare effectiveness, and thus their conclusions regarding Scantegrity II are unsupported by the evidence they present. Furthermore, their conclusions are contradicted by the successful deployment experiences of Scantegrity II at Takoma Park

Electronic Voting System Usability Issues

With the recent troubles in U.S. elections, there has been a nationwide push to update voting systems. Municipalities are investing heavily in electronic voting systems, many of which use a touch screen. These systems offer the promise of faster and more accurate voting, but the current reality is that they are fraught with usability and systemic problems. This paper surveys issues relating to usability of electronic voting systems and reports on a series of studies, including one with 415 voters using new systems that the State of Maryland purchased. Our analysis shows these systems work well, but have several problems, and a significant minority of voters have concerns about them. Keywords Electronic voting systems, Direct Recording Electronic (DRE), voting usability. (UMIACS-TR-2002-94) (HCIL-TR-2002-23

Scantegrity II Municipal Election at Takoma Park: The First E2E Binding Governmental Election with Ballot Privacy

On November 3, 2009, voters in Takoma Park, Maryland, cast ballots for the mayor and city council members using the Scantegrity II voting system—the first time any end-to-end (E2E) voting system with ballot privacy has been used in a binding governmental election. This case study describes the various efforts that went into the election—including the improved design and implementation of the voting system, streamlined procedures, agreements with the city, and assessments of the experiences of voters and poll workers. The election, with 1728 voters from six wards, involved paper ballots with invisible-ink confirmation codes, instant-runoff voting with write-ins, early and absentee (mail-in) voting, dual-language ballots, provisional ballots, privacy sleeves, any-which-way scanning with parallel conventional desktop scanners, end-to-end verifiability based on optional web-based voter verification of votes cast, a full hand recount, thresholded authorities, three independent outside auditors, fully-disclosed software, and exit surveys for voters and pollworkers. Despite some glitches, the use of Scantegrity II was a success, demonstrating that E2E cryptographic voting systems can be effectively used and accepted by the general public.United States. Dept. of Defense (IASP grant H98230-08-1-0334)United States. Dept. of Defense (IASP grant H98230-09-1-0404)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant no. CNS 0831149

Party Contributions Come with a Support Network

Objectives Contributions to candidates from the parties’ congressional campaign committees are thought to have a “multiplier effect” in terms of generating contributions from political action committees. Method Using structural equation modeling and timed direct contribution data from the 1992 to 2012 general election cycles, I uncover a complex system of relationships within each party network. Results After controlling for the competitiveness of the race, I find party contributions to challengers and open‐seat contestants early in the election cycle positively and significantly predict political action committee contributions to those candidates in the period after Labor Day, both in the era preceding the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act and the era after reform; however, the strength of the relationship declines in the postreform era and differences between the party networks also arise. Conclusions I attribute these developments to changes in campaign finance law that created new hurdles for parties and increased the influence of interest groups