Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
IEAS 2011
Security
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Democracy
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
Easy to use
1
Content
Background
Electronic Counting and Tabulation Systems in the past
Development of voting technologies
Security
Ease of Use
Results Tabulation Systems
Implementation Triangle
Opportunities today
Challenges today
CS 1: Integrated Election Information System
CS 2: Supporting all the processes in a Counting Center
CS 3: Real time results
iVote results system
Collecting election materials
The future of Elections
Ubiquitous Elections
Audit
Other possible future directions
Election systems worldwide
Conclusions
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
1
Background
Cofounder and CEO of Innovation
Innovation - iVote™ Elections Platform
Professor of software engineering at the University of Skopje
President of the Technical Committee for ICT at the Macedonian Standardization Institute
Regional experience in Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania.
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
2
Electronic Counting and Tabulation
Systems in the past
Electrographic Vote Recorder and Register
The paper ballot system
Mechanical lever voting machines
Punch card systems
Optical Scan
Direct Recording Electronic (DRE)
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
3
Development of voting technologies
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
4
Security
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
5
Security
Cryptography - digital certificates, digital signatures, encryption
Access to the System and Transmitting Data
The first line of defense in any system is physical security
Firewalls
Antivirus software
Well-Defined Standards
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
6
Ease of Use
Usability is the ease of use and learnability of a human-made object [Wikipedia]
Usability is often overlooked when purchasing election ICT technology
Effectiveness
Efficiency
Satisfaction
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
7
Results Tabulation Systems
The case of Innovation iVote™ Elections Platform
2006-2011
All processes redesigned to be user - centric
Employed specialists in human-computer interaction
We constantly monitor the processes from the beginning to the end (Look and feel)
New generation of users with different needs
The main focus is on Usability
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
8
Why do We need a perfect results
Tabulation System
Speed
Power
Flexibility
Easy generation of aggregated of information in less time
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
9
Perfect results Tabulation System
Summary and detailed analysis
Historical statistics
Powerful reports offer advanced data retrieval
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
10
Implementation Triangle
Usability
Security
Budget and Time Planning
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
11
Opportunities today
Internet voting
Touch screen systems
People with disabilities to vote by themselves, easily and in secrecy
Higher voter turnout
Reduced overall cost to operate and manage the election process
Faster vote counting and delivery of the final election results
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
12
Challenges today
Election laws - time and difficulty of changing
Voter confidence in the system
Equal access to Internet
Lack of training
Not enough planning
Time and cost
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
13
CS 1: Integrated Election Information
System
The case of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Complex electoral system
More than 10 different types of election races
Plurality voting, open lists, referendum.
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
14
CS 1: Integrated Election Information
System
Election laws
Elicitation of client needs
Time and Cost planning
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
15
CS 1: Integrated Election Information
System
Integrity
Convenience
Security
iVote supports open and closed lists and different kind of voting models
Enables automatic evaluation of the results from the election process for
all the possible types
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
16
CS 1: Integrated Election Information
System
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
17
CS 2: Supporting all the processes in
a Counting Center
The case of Kosovo
Frequent changes in the
Materials
Election areas
Material flow
Undocumented procedures
Unstable information system
Lead to:
difficulties in the Risk Management procedures
Additional time spend
Doubt in functionality of the system
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
18
CS 2: Supporting all the processes in
a Counting Center
Detailed discussions with the client
Avoiding frequent changes or
Applying strict procedures - Risk and Change Management
Analysis and comparison of different election process
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
19
CS 2: Supporting all the processes in
a Counting Center
Smooth and easy performance of election processes, with better image
and control
The best possible way to create processes that are accountable and
efficient
Collect all the required data for validation and verification of the: Final
Voters Lists, Conditional Ballot Envelopes, Regular Result Forms, Batch
Result Forms
Tracking for all the documents that are received into the Counting and
Results Center
Administration of the flow of the materials in different areas in the
Counts and Results Center
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
20
CS 2: Supporting all the processes in
a Counting Center
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
21
CS 3: Real time results
The case od Macedonia
A need for a new, improved, integrated information system that would
enable a real time (LIVE) presentation of the results to the public.
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
22
CS 3: Real time results
Studying the possibility for a new, innovative and effective way to
present real time data
Technological challenges
Interesting user interface for presentation for different types of public
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
23
CS 3: Real time results
The results can be presented in a timely manner for all election races
Review of the candidates in a particular political party
Citizens’ reaction
From hundreds to unprecedented 2.2 million page views on the
results web site
Visits from 80 countries
Social Networking (Facebook referring more than 25%)
Focus – USABILITY
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
24
CS 3: Real time results
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
25
iVote results system
Early parliamentary elections 2011 - Macedonia
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
26
iVote results system
Early parliamentary elections 2011 - Macedonia
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
27
Collecting election materials
Bosnia and Herzegovina – by Municipality
Kosovo – one counting center
Macedonia – efforts for collection of data at the poling station level
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
28
Focus in the future development of
iVote
Smooth and easy performance
Transparency
Integrity, convenience and security
Accountable and efficient
Customizable
User-friendliness
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
29
Challenges of using Mobile devices
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
30
The future of Elections: Social Elections
No paper ballots, no need for complex elections
Maybe still have some e-voting elements
Seamless, based on Social Networking
Like Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon do for advertisements’ personalization
Election choice will be based on the electronic profile of the citizen
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
31
Ubiquitous Integration and Control
Social media and mobile devices contribute to the possibilities for UBIQUITUS INFORMATION FLOW
which means enormous integration in all aspects
Better control and prevention of illegal actions
Not only tabulation but also audit and early warning system
Comparison algorithms, f.e.
Signatures in Final Voter List & Used Ballots
Used Ballots & SUM ( Valid Ballots + Invalid Ballots + Blank Ballots)
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
32
Audit
Are recounts necessary to verify the election outcomes?
Any unintentional errors?
Fraud?
Continuous improvement in the conduct of the elections processes
Promoting public confidence in elections
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
33
Other possible FAR future directions
Tabulation-integrated systems based on peoples' attitudes and perceptions
Non-invasive ubiquitous external sensors reading data from different centers in our brains
Process the brain data for:
political orientation
emotional view on candidates
social requirements and expectations
rational reasoning
Choose the closed matching candidate using fuzzy logic reasoning and neural networks
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
35
Election systems worldwide
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk
34
Conclusions
The main concerns of the software developers at the moment are security, time and resources issues
Designing for usability
Include human-computer interaction experts in the teams
User –centric process reengineering
Plan sufficient time
Plan sufficient budget
Build trust in the system
The Future of Electronic Counting and
Tabulation Systems Worldwide
Dr. Ljupcho Antovski
ljupco.antovski@innovation.com.mk