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  Security of Ballots and Memory Cards

At a November 2008 meeting, the GAB had a public hearing on security.  Paul Malischke presented comments on securing Election Management Systems (EMS), among other issues.  Since then, staff has made no visible progress towards promulgating an administrative rule on security of ballots and voting systems.

At a May 5, 2008 GAB meeting, the Wisconsin GAB approved a draft of an administrative rule on ballot and memory card security.   The GAB ignored these comments from Paul Malischke.  See our page on rules.  The security rule is GAB 5.

Proper security is an essential factor in getting the vote count correct.

Security Proposal as of March 24, 2008 Proposed by ad hoc committee of clerks.  Based upon original draft by Kris Frederick (no longer on GAB staff) and amended version by Paul Malischke.
Cover letter to clerks from Kevin Kennedy Asks for comments by April 11
Existing ballot security rule ElBd 5 Longstanding rule, but no one followed it
Paul Malischke's April 8 comments Improve checking mechanisms, revise forms, add auditing and annual report on security
John Washburn's Feb 21 comments Asking that ballots be made available for study after the mandatory storage period.

Background:  In September 2007 Paul Malischke told the Board that the existing ballot security rules were pretty good, but no one was following them!  He proposed amendments adding details of security methods, and also adding a check mechanism to make sure the rules were being followed. 

Contact Paul Malischke about broken links or your comments.  Last updated Saturday, August 14, 2010

Consumer alert:  This page may reflect the bias of the author J