toward a common data language for the elections space
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Toward a Common Data Language for the Elections Space. What are elections officials looking for?. Overview. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Toward a Common Data Language for the Elections
SpaceWhat are elections officials looking for?
OverviewThe need for a common data language is analogous
to the use of a common language for people and economies to share the best of ideas, products, and services. A language used exclusively by a few isolates people from the rest of what the world has to offer.
The elections’ space suffers from an inability to share data across platforms. Voting systems are basically closed systems within a vendor and a lack of a common language creates difficulties sharing data with other systems that need voting system data.
VR and VotingSystems Interface
voter registration systems and candidate filing systems contain information necessary to building an election and its ballot styles in a voting system (ballot layout).
In some cases, vendors/ jurisdictions have collaborated on good interfaces between the two systems, some interfaces are inadequate, and many don’t exist at all.
See Appendix B for a sample of Hart’s XML file.
Tabulation
Election/BallotDefinition
Create ElectionDatabase/Definition
JurisdictionalModel
Input ElectionInformationinto Voting
System
Start
Candidate FilingVoter
Tracking/Registration
Store Voter DREInput
Store optical scan ofvoted paper ballots
(POS, CCOS)
Paper Ballots
DRE
Statewide/Augmented/ Media
Election Results
LocalElectionResults
END
Common Data LanguageElection Definition
App. B
Voting Systems and Election Results Reporting
Vendor InterestsThe prevailing business model in the elections industry doesn’t support a common data language when applied to tightly-integrated voting systems products.
Election Official ConcernsElection officials do not want to deal with multiple vendors. We are fearful of situations where vendors point fingers at each other and the problem doesn’t get solved.
Systems Integrators Open Source Digital Voting Foundation believes it can develop specifications for voting and voter registration system components that would create a different kind of elections market.
Tabulation
Election/BallotDefinition
Create ElectionDatabase/Definition
JurisdictionalModel
Input ElectionInformationinto Voting
System
Start
Candidate FilingVoter
Tracking/Registration
Store Voter DREInput
Store optical scan ofvoted paper ballots
(POS, CCOS)
Paper Ballots
DRE
Statewide/Augmented/ Media
Election Results
LocalElectionResults
END
Common Data LanguageElection Definition
App. B
CommonData
Language
ElectionResults
App. D
Obstacles to a Common Data Language
A common election results data language would facilitate the process of rolling up election result totals from the local to the state to the national levels for all stakeholders involved in the process of reporting election results, including media.
See Appendix C for samples of election result data currently provided by voting systems.
Tabulation
Election/BallotDefinition
Create ElectionDatabase/Definition
JurisdictionalModel
Input ElectionInformationinto Voting
System
Start
Candidate FilingVoter
Tracking/Registration
Store Voter DREInput
Store optical scan ofvoted paper ballots
(POS, CCOS)
Paper Ballots
DRE
Statewide/Augmented/ Media
Election Results
LocalElectionResults
END
Common Data LanguageElection Definition
App. B
CommonData
Language
ElectionResults
App. D
CommonData
Language
ElectionResults
App. D
CommonData
Language
BallotDefinition
App. D
Voting Systems and Online Ballot Delivery A common ballot definition languagea method for updating the voter registration system with the ballot styles created by a voting system (ballot layout) is a necessary component of a functional election management system.Just beginning to open up is a new market delivering ballots online. Positioned similar to the DRE, POS, and CCOS with a need for ballot definitions and method for reporting results back to the host system. See Appendix D for a list of data elements that belong to a ballot definition.
Tabulation
Election/BallotDefinition
Create ElectionDatabase/Definition
JurisdictionalModel
Input ElectionInformation intoVoting System
Start
Candidate FilingVoter
Tracking/Registration
Store Voter DREInput
Store optical scan ofvoted paper ballots
(POS, CCOS)
Paper Ballots
DRE
Statewide/Augmented/ Media
Election Results
LocalElectionResults
END
Online/ElectronicBallot Delivery
Store ElectronicBallot Input
CommonData
Language
ElectionResults
App. D
CommonData
Language
BallotDefinition
App. D
CommonData
Language
ElectionResults
App. D
Common Data LanguageElection Definition
App. B