profession to carry out a rigorous study to identify ways to restore confidence in the integrity of U.S. elections.

Some of the vulnerabilities we described in our paper, including politically motivated actions by state election officials and circulation of false information on social media, are not susceptible to easy solution. However, without jeopardizing the principle of local control, some problems in the U.S. election infrastructure can be eliminated or mitigated through sensible national standards and practices that represent the settled judgment of computing researchers and public-policy experts.

In the view of political scientist John Kingdon, 4 an issue can get on the political agenda only when three streams coincide: the problem; the solution; and the political will. It is clear that, in the U.S., we have a problem. The emerging consensus about standards for voting machines, computer databases of registered voters, electronic poll books, and risk-limiting audits constitutes a solution to several aspects of the problem. Kingdon underscores the critical role of policy entrepreneurs in building acceptance for solutions and creating couplings among the three critical streams. In today’s polarized state of national discourse, the ACM U.S. Public Policy Council2 is uniquely positioned to lend its trusted voice to the task of repairing civic confidence in this foundation of American democracy.

References

1. ACM. Statewide Databases of Registered Voters;

https://www.verifiedvoting.org/wp-content/ uploads/2013/04/acm-voter-registration-database- report-2006.pdf

2. ACM U.S. Public Policy Council; https://www.acm.org/ public-policy/usacm

3. ETHICOMP conference. Sopot, Poland, Sept. 24–26,

2018; http://www.dmu.ac.uk/research/research- faculties-and-institutes/technology/centre-for-computing-and-social-responsibility/ethicomp/ ethicomp-2018/ ethicomp-2018.aspx

4. Kingdon, J. W. Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, Second Edition. Longman Publishing Group, London, U.K., 2010.

William M. Fleischman and Kathleen V. Antaki, Villanova, PA, USA

IN THE SPIRIT of Moshe Y. Vardi’s call, in his “Vardi’s Insights” column “Computer Profes- sionals for Social Responsi- bility” (Jan. 2018), for ACM to “ … be more active in addressing social responsibility issues raised by computing technology,” we urge the ACM U.S. Public Policy Council to undertake a study of the technological infrastructure for U.S. elections. In a paper to be published in the Proceedings of ETHICOMP 2018, 3 we surveyed the widespread weaknesses in this infrastructure. We found, for historical and constitutional reasons, local control of elections, including equipment, processes, and procedures, is a prerogative jealously guarded. Practices and procedures even in neighboring counties can differ significantly, a factor in the presidential vote in Florida in 2000.

The bitterly contested aftermath of the related Florida recount led to federal legislation—the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002—concerning voting machines and registration procedures. Although intended to bring a measure of order and uniformity to the existing patchwork of state election systems, the legislation was hastily drafted and carelessly implemented, giving rise to problems that have plagued U.S. elections ever since.

Chronic problems with HAVA implementation have led to studies by the U.S. National Research Council and the U.S. Public Policy Committee of the ACM published in 20061 that had some effect in moving state and local officials toward adopting more reliable voting equipment and more secure processes for maintaining accurate voter-registration lists. Nevertheless, electronic voting machines and voter-registration lists remain vulnerable to attackers intent on interfering in U.S. elections. The profound shock administered by foreign actors trying to affect the result of the 2016 election is a call to action. ACM should once again mobilize the prestige and expertise of the computing

Encourage ACM to Address
U.S. Election Integrity

DOI:10.1145/3235028

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