US Election Assistance Commission - Voluntary Voting System Guidelines Vote
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Section CommentsGeneral CommentsGlossary Comments
 
Name :   Hank Dietz
Organization :   University of Kentucky
Post Date :   9/29/2005

General Comments
Comment :  The proliferation of cameras and the fact that timestamps will be recorded with votes require additional care in configuring the polling place so that privacy is maintained. For example, many polling places may have security cameras and/or webcams (intended for the non-polling uses of those locations) that could be used to associate individuals with timestamps, thereby enabling people with access to the vote records to identify how each person voted. Indeed, cameras that could be used for such purposes are becoming common in cell phones, etc. Steps should be taken to prevent recording of images that could be used to reconstruct voting timestamps.  Similarly, especially in the case of voting systems that use a display photograph as a voting record, people should be prevented from bringing a camera that they could use to make their own photographic proof of how they voted.