Voter Registration

The UK Computing Research Committee (UKCRC), an Expert Panel of the British Computer 1. Society, the Institution of Electrical Engineers and the Council of Professors and Heads of Computing, was formed in November 2000 as a policy committee for computing research in the UK. Its members are leading computing researchers from UK academia and industry. UKCRC has the expertise to address issue (d) identified by the committee (‘Advantages or 2. disadvantages of electronic rather than paper-based registration systems’), and the related issue (i), at least as it concerns the security of computer-based systems. Since we have no details about the scope of a proposed voter registration system, many of our 3. remarks here apply to computer-based systems in general. We begin with a brief discussion of the advantages to be gained, in principle, from the use of 4. computer-based systems in some applications. Examples of these advantages include the flexibility that comes with programmability, and the possibility for greater and more complex functionality than is possible in a paper-based system. There follows some discussion of the problems that can arise in the use of these systems. Many 5. of these concern dependability – ensuring that users can justifiably place trust in the system’s operation. We explain why these problems are difficult, e.g. 6. how novelty, difficulty and complexity can undermine trust in dependability. Finally, we discuss at some length the problems of 7. project risk: why it is that projects to build new computer-based systems often fail. In the worst cases, many projects have been abandoned without producing a working system. Even when a system is delivered, it often falls far short of its users’ expectations. Project cost overruns are commonplace, and often massive. At this stage of incomplete definition of the required voter registration system, any assessment of 8. risk can only be generic. Decisions about procuring such a system need to include a more precise definition of the required system, its uses and responsibilities, a hazard analysis based on it, and thus a specification of the safeguards to be used in designing and developing the system and those that must be included in the system itself. Only on this basis will it be possible for both the government and contractors to evaluate the cost and feasibility of such a project. UKCRC would be happy to answer follow-up questions on any of these points. It would also 9. welcome further more detailed consultation at suitable points in the progress of the project if it goes ahead. Voter Registration