News & Insights
We’re Making History in Real Time.
Our timely insights share informed perspectives on the rapidly evolving story of Election Technology, as it unfolds.
Manufactured Chaos
With the start of voting in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election quickly approaching, we can expect the level of “noise” about elections to reach a fever pitch in the sprint after Labor Day. Energized by the former president’s lies about the outcome of the 2020 election, election deniers are sowing doubt about the legitimacy of elections through mis- and disinformation across multiple platforms. It’s not a pretty picture for democracy.….
Observing International Day of Democracy 2022
The goal of International Day of Democracy is to promote and uphold the principles of democracy. Democracy, at its simplest definition, refers to a government ruled by the people through representatives that have been elected by the whole population. Today is the annual day of observance; our co-founder & COO offers some reflections…
Venerable Technology Visionary John Gage Joins OSET Institute Board
The OSET Institute announces today that veteran technologist John Gage has joined its Board of Directors. How kewl is this? I mean the venerable Gage is like the “Yoda of Silicon Valley,” right? After all, he coined the phrase, “The network is the computer.” But this news is particularly important in light of our mission and John's experience...
A Call for the President to Act on Electoral Integrity Preparedness
Its not common for us to wade into policy issues of our U.S. President's Administration, but given how much we've witnessed regarding foreign meddling in the 2016 election cycle, we believe its well within our mission scope to comment today on this nation's preparedness regarding our election infrastructure in upcoming elections.....
A Brexit Foreshadow
The Brexit is a teachable moment for American democracy. No amount of voting technology work we have underway can address this in time for November, and its really a different issue altogether... actually making the effort to cast a ballot. Because if people fail to show this time... the result could be hugely unfortunate.
Announcing Collaboration to Produce Global Election Technology Industry Study
This week the Wharton School together with its Public Policy Institute and the OSET Foundation announced an important industry research project to further inform business, government, and philanthropy on the state of the global election technology industry. The research team is comprised of two principal investigators: Dr. Lorin Hitt of Wharton and Gregory Miller of the OSET Foundation, leading six Wharton students, and managed by Andrew Coopersmith of the Penn Wharton Public Policy Initiative ...
A Solemn Day of Fighting the Good Fight
In the midst of our heads-down work and of the goodness in advancing the cause of innovation in critical democracy infrastructure, we pause.
On December 14th, our Chief Technology Officer, John Sebes's Father, Dr. Jeno Sebes, passed away in Memphis, TN. Below is the obituary (courtesy of Barbara Coll, John's wife) that will be published in the paper tomorrow.
Election Tech Innovation Starts with the Procurement Process
Philadelphia City Commissioner Stephanie Singer is our guest commentator today, reflecting on the challenges of injecting real innovation into the procurement process. So, in her words, Madam Commissioner Singer...
Its Our Birthday! A Reflection on How We Do What We Do
Wow. How time flies. Its our birthday this week! (Monday the 17th to be precise; it was a Friday in November 2006.) We are 8-years old! You know, that's a long life by the measure of most commercial technology ventures. But a bit different as a non-profit technology venture. So, we wanted to post something today in honor of our birthday and the progress we've made. Please read on...
The Moose Lurking in the Room
To hec with the elephant (regardless of who you think will control Congress after election day), the real beast in the room may be a Moose -- Alaska style. Our CTO notes an article from yesterday that points out how Alaska's close U.S. senatorial race, combined with their allowing ballots to be digitally returned across the Internet, may pose the greatest threat to a derailed election we've seen yet.
But the real point John makes is that sadly, Alaskan voters may not even be aware of the risks and who in this case is watching over their ballots -- at least those returned in the inherently insecure manner of the Internet, no matter how "secure" the "experts" are claiming the process to be. If the ballot return system in Alaska were truly as secure as their vendor claims, then Banks would be using their methods, and the massive amounts of hacked customer personal information at major brands this year might have been alleviated. Have a look and give us your take.
On the Civic Technology Landscape, the TrustTheVote Project is an Atypical Structure, Part Two
The second of two blog posts exploring how the TrustTheVote Project fits in the "civic tech" landscape.
Online Voting Remains Too Much of a Downside Risk
To our stakeholder community: So now comes another study about online voting. But this one, from a respectable think tank in Washington D.C., shouldn’t make election administrators worry too much. No need to brace for a legislative blunder, so long as this paper is taken seriously, as it should be. On the other hand, there doesn’t yet appear to be a replacement for your DRE machinery – for those of you still relying on them. Here's our "take."