Jackson County Commission Work Session July 18, 2016 - "Problems with No Resolution," Poll Place Voter Identification Change Resolution, "E-Poll Book" Cyber Security Concern, Expense, Identity Theft Concerns

Jackson County Commission meets in the Board Room of the Jackson County Courthouse every Monday at 3:00PM. 1st and 3rd Mondays are Work Sessions, 2nd and 4th Mondays are Regular Sessions. Holidays result in moving the commission meeting dates. Dates of the Commission meetings are posted in the north side entrance foyer of the Courthouse. Photo by G. Morgan

AGENDA

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The Jackson county Park portion of the agenda included discussion on the park renovation plans regarding the entrance-exit changes, design of the 9 cabins, new park office location, laundry room, bath house, playground. This section is not included in the video.

In other business it was stated that the following Boards have position openings needing filled: Jackson County Personnel Board, DHR Board, 911 Board, Jackson County Water Authority Board, Jackson-Marshall Mental Health Board, Mountain Lakes Tourism Board.

POSSIBLE POLL PLACE VOTER IDENTIFICATION CHANGE - E-POLL BOOK, CYBER SECURITY CONCERNS, "PROBLEMS WITH NO SOLUTIONS 

(Univ. of Conn. study)."

E-Poll Book I-pad device similar to the type which may be utilized if the system were to be implemented in Jackson County, Alabama. Photo by "UrbanCitizen.com"-Fair Use for non-profit news reporting and commentary.

There may be a change regarding checking identification of voters at polling. The driver's license electronic identification information may be utilized as voter identification if a resolution is passed. The project is called the Electronic Poll Books. 

During the next Regular Session a vote will occur whether to approve or not approve the resolution. The electronic Poll Book identification check before implementation may occur must be approved by the county commission. I-Pads will be utilized for this project. Which brings up the issue of identification security. HOW SECURE ARE THESE I-PADS CONTAINING ALL INFORMATION ON THE STATE DRIVERS LICENSE? This is an identified concern!

Identity theft and personal security concerns - This should not be approved unless there are assurances that the I-Pads and electronic system are secure from identity theft hackers. The basic outline of security measures must be made public. What happens when a registered voter does not have a state ID, e.g drivers license or state personal identification card, will they be turned away from the polls?

Link from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) describing E-Poll Books: http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/electronic-pollbooks.aspx

From the NCSL site, there are definitive personal identification security concerns with this program.

"Things to Consider - Jurisdictions that consider using e-poll books should also evaluate the following issues:"

• -->Costs for purchase and maintenance.
• Challenge of training poll workers on a new technology.
• -->Safeguards against a cyber attack.
• -->Physical security of e-poll book equipment and the data it contains.
• -->Potential for a mass malfunction of e-poll books, whether by chance or deliberate attack, leading some jurisdictions to keep a paper poll book on hand.

Resolution on Electronic Poll Books

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Failure to address security concerns regarding hacking the I-Pads or any other device by remote means, This system is a hackers dream come true regarding identity theft. This issue is not discussed in this article which is indicative of a security failure in our "brave new word.". Concern about "bugs," and “We do not foresee any issues or concerns,” does not provide a definitive answer regarding cyber-security pitfalls  Link: http://lagniappemobile.com/officials-divided-new-voting-format-general-election/

Hacking potential depends of level of encryption, system is expensive: http://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga-county/index.ssf/2013/03/electronic_poll_books_seem_conceptually_simple_but_may_be_vulnerable_to_hacking_and_cyber_attacks_ex.html

Electronic Poll Book discussion: http://www.robiselections.com/electronic-poll-book-security

Massive problems reported, 8 out of 10 voting places reported failures: http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/news/report-eight-of-10-polling-locations-had-problems/nphbD/

A comprehensive study by the University of Connecticut regarding E-Poll Books. Summary quote: "...research results show that certain key problems in the distributed systems landscape in general have no solutions,.." (This report is 1 year old.)  https://voter.engr.uconn.edu/voter/wp-content/uploads/2015-Seattle-4s.pdf

Jackson County Commissioners, Probate Judge, Citizens of Jackson County - without a dedicated Information Technology Specialist employed by the Jackson County Commission, either staff or contracted, it would not be prudent to implement an E-Poll Book system at this time. Again a quote from the University of Connecticut  study, there are problems which "have no solutions" at this time. In times of massive financial problems within the county, and if the state is not going to fund this problematic system, how are the citizens of Jackson county going to afford the E-Poll Book System? 

VIDEO