KSU
has role in new voting - Center paves way for
machines
Atlanta
Journal Constitution
Bryan Long
- Staff
Thursday,
June 20, 2002
Georgia --
If Georgia's first all-electronic general election goes smoothly this fall,
much of the credit will go to Kennesaw State University.
The school
received $500,000 to open a Center for Election Systems to coordinate election
preparation with the secretary of state and to teach election officials the
technical side of new machines that look more like automated teller machines
than traditional paper ballots.
With
qualifying for the Aug. 20 elections to end at noon Friday, the election
season is officially in full swing.
The
election center is led by Neil Hall, a KSU professor of computer science. Hall
and his team are working behind the scenes to find and solve problems that
will arise as the state receives 19,015 electronic voting machines. The
machines will be used in November's election.
This year,
the center will focus primarily on proving the machines work properly, but the
work's scope will expand in future elections. The idea is to create a one-call
shop for election problems.
"If you're
an election official and you have a question but you don't know where that
question should go, call KSU," said Michael Barnes, assistant director of
elections for the secretary of state's office.
The center
has set up a Web site and a toll-free number as quick ways to answer those
questions.
It's a
system that's unique to Georgia. It's an inspiration that followed the
problems of the 2000 presidential election and is directly tied to the state's
purchase of a new voting system.
While many
states have looked to change election machines after the election, only
Georgia has thrown out all the old machines to make way for identical polling
booths statewide.
"Every
other state in the country will be following what we're doing," Secretary of
State Cathy Cox has said.
And to
make sure Georgia provides an example of the right way to roll out the system,
KSU was asked to monitor the process and provide technical assistance in the
future. The secretary of state and the university have worked together for
years on other
projects.