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<P>From <A
href="http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/story/0,10801,88064,00.html">Computerworld</A>:
Six vendors of election systems have formed a trade group to address lingering
questions about security and ethics in the electronic voting industry. The six
vendors, teaming with the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA),
<A
href="http://www.itaa.org/news/pr/PressRelease.cfm?ReleaseID=1071000864">announced</A>
yesterday that they have formed the Election Technology Council (ETC), which
will attempt to write a code of ethics and review security best practices in the
industry, members said. <BR>"The ballot box is sacred to our American
democracy," said David Hart, chairman of both the ETC and Hart InterCivic Inc.
"We're now talking about sweeping changes to devices people use to vote. ...
It's not surprising questions have arisen about the ability of this technology
to support so heavy a responsibility. We welcome these questions, and we assert
our rights as reputable, hard-working elections technology companies, to answer
those questions in an honest and forthright manner." <BR>I think we will have to
wait some time for operational electronic voting, but when the time of this
technology comes it is going to make a big impact. For example it will be
possible to formally (and informally) consult citizens much more frequently at a
given cost.</P></BODY></HTML>