EAC - Voluntary Voting System Guidelines

Name : | Stanley A. Klein
Organization : | N/A
Post Date : | 9/30/2005
Section Comments
Section : | 3.4.3
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Comment : | Specific issues are summarized below and explained in detail in subsequent sections: * The Mean Time Between Failure requirement of 163 hours, repeated from previous FEC standards, is pathetically low. This corresponds to an election day failure probability of 9.2% per machine. There is mounting evidence that voting machines are no better than allowed by the standard. If business computers were as unreliable as voting machines, they would need to be replaced every month or two. The VVSG has no requirement, enforceable by testing, that a malfunction does not result in loss of recorded votes. As a result, it is possible that a well conducted preelection or exit poll, with a margin of error 1 of 3%, could be substantially more reliable than the certified results of voting on DRE machines. A proper MTBF requirement, well within the capability of current technology, would be in the range of 5000 to 15000 hours.