The Process Is As Important As The Underlying Technology

The process of executing the election is at least as important as the underlying ballot technology. Perfect technology cannot repair a fundamentally flawed process. Adequate policies, institutions and people are needed to make sure that the voting systems are properly used. In every electronic technology, particularly security technologies, the human factor is a critical component. The process and people require investment as least as great as the investment in the technology. There are certain inherent trade-offs in the process that the technology may obscure but does not resolve. The emergence of election administration as a profession, including the maturation of professional associations, is worthy of support. Other options include creation of professional guidelines, certification, training or testing for those who are in public positions with the responsibility of administering elections. International interaction of election officials can support the creation of a knowledge base. Many other nations have trained, civil-service election administrators to guarantee a non-partisan process.

(Jean Camp, Allan Friedman and Warigia Bowman, Electronic Voting Best Practices: A Summary [pdf], Voting, Vote Capture & Vote Counting Symposium, June 2004, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 9)