Election TechReports(tm) Newsletter

*Election TechREPORTS^™* InfoSENTRY® Services www.infosentry.com info@infosentry.com Issue 9 July 2002 Privacy Policy FEATURE 1: The Powerful Bite of E-Mail FEATURE 2: Citizen's Growing Use of Internet for Government Information FEATURE 3: Pennsylvania Department of State Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation FEATURE 4: Writing RFPs for Election Systems Consulting Services
The Powerful Bite of E-Mail How would you like to have some e-mails from your office computer or your desktop spread upon the front pages of your local newspaper-and the lead story on nightly television news. Well, if you had been the fly on the wall in one governor's office you might have been able to see how it felt. The Governor's office became involved in a tiff with his state's Chief Information Officer. The tiff escalated resulting in the resignation/termination of the CIO. One thing led to another, and for a variety of reasons the CIO began to release e-mails he had received from the Governor's staff. Among some of the more memorable quotes in the headline stories, an e-mail from the Governor's office reportedly said that legislators "…don't get oversight unless we give it to them. In fact, I'd prefer that they not have an opinion unless we give it to them." Another gubernatorial aide's e-mail made the following point: "Ever smell a camel? Believe me, you don't want to spend the night with a camel or have the Legislature telling you how to do your business." Other e-mails named legislators who had their own agenda in attacking the Governor and accused a Member of lying. Remember, these e-mails became not only the fodder for legislative discussion. They appeared with almost daily regularity above the fold in newspapers and as stories on nightly news. There is more…much more. The Governor and his staff were very displeased with the release of the e-mails. The Governor explained that he considered e-mails to be "confidential correspondences" and the same as "dinner conversations." A newspaper disagreed and filed requests under the state's Freedom of Information Act for even more e-mails. In all, it was an enormously embarrassing experience for quite a number of high-ranking government officials. Regardless of the other effects of this story, it probably has freed up a lot of disk space in the State Capitol as employees rushed to delete e-mails by the thousands! InfoSENTRY professionals have developed comprehensive system security policies, Internet appropriate use policies, e-mail use policies, and security awareness programs to help avoid one of these "life's most embarrassing moments" with e-mails: Assume that anything you send or receive in your office e-mail might find its way to a newspaper or television newscast. Be very careful before sending personal notes or flame-mail. Aunt Buffy's Apple Pandowdy recipe or Uncle Chuck's unique medical condition might appear harmless in an e-mail to a co-worker. They will make the sender look much less professional when they are re-printed in the local daily newspaper or are inadvertently forwarded to everyone in an e-mail address book. Avoid sending information such as passwords and other "confidential" information in e-mails that pass through or to government networks. In their e-mail forms, they are transmitted typically in what is known by computer security folks as "clear text" which means they can be read pretty easily by a lot of people--and they might be subject to disclosure by Freedom of Information inquiries or other public records requests. Get a copy of and read your state's public records laws and their applicability to e-mail. Don't assume you know these laws. Don't assume that there aren't any applicable laws. These laws are sometimes not clear-cut and make fine distinctions between public records, confidential records, and working papers. Also, some of these laws contain or have related laws dealing with "records retention requirements." Many of those laws cover e-mail. We are aware of one state that requires certain e-mails to be retained either in electronic or paper form for 10 years. Determine if your state or local jurisdictions' personnel policies cover your rights and responsibilities regarding appropriate use of e-mail. Determine actions that officials can take to examine your e-mail files and use them in personnel actions. If your office or government agency does not have or is not covered by "appropriate use" policies for the Internet and e-mail, develop them. If you have not undertaken positive, documented steps to make your peers and employees aware of these policies, get started with these steps right away. Know the cycles for backup and archival storage of computers on which your incoming and outgoing e-mails might be stored. Remember that with Internet-based e-mail, your message might start on your computer and "touch base" in many servers--before it is stored on the recipient's computer. In the meantime, it might be backed up on someone's archive tape. (Oliver North allegedly failed to know about a set of backup tapes that landed him in some hot water!) E-mail was one of the "killer applications" of the past decade. But it is an application that needs understanding and a touch of care to avoid becoming a major embarrassment to government officials. Top of page Citizen's Growing Use of Internet for Government Information A recent report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project points to the necessary, active use of the Internet in elections offices. Here are a few quoted findings from the study: "Fully 68 million American adults have used government agency Web sites - a sharp increase from the 40 million who had used government sites in March 2000… 42 million Americans have used government Web sites to research public policy issues. 23 million Americans have used the Internet to send comments to public officials about policy choices. 14 million have used government Web sites to gather information to help them decide how to cast their votes. 13 million have participated in online lobbying campaigns." The Pew Internet Project concludes, "A new 'e-citizenship' is taking hold." So, what does this mean for elections offices? Most importantly, it means that for elections offices--just like for many other public and private organizations--content is king on the Internet. Many citizens will come to your web site expecting to find something other than the county seal, the state flag, or a picture of the state capitol building. The increasing number of visitors to your site will expect to see information on how and where to register to vote, to check the status of their registration, to find locations of polling places or ballot drop sites, and to get election results. Even in lean budget times, citizens will expect real information on elections office web sites and your budget writers will expect you to use the Internet to reduce the cost of providing services to citizens. A second point is one that you probably expected to hear by now. More frequently you will hear the question, "Why can't I vote over the Internet?" The old quick answer of "It's not secure enough" will be one that more voters will not believe or accept. Particularly when the wired voter reads about Great Britain's initiative to have Internet voting in place nationwide by 2006-and if that initiative succeeds-the pressure to move ahead with something other than halting and expensive pilot projects will grow rapidly. Now is a good time to start planning for this eventuality, even while you are getting ready to buy those expensive DRE voting machines. The Pew Internet & American Life Project has developed a good web site where you can read about these and other Internet trends. You can visit it at http://www.pewinternet.org . InfoSENTRY has a white paper on issues involving use of Internet voting. You can get a copy at www.infosentry.com/Dark_Corner_to_DotCom.htm . Top of page Feature Election Office: Pennsylvania Department of State Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation The web address on the state’s license plate is an open indication. The State’s launch of a $380+ million implementation of a new state financial system is another indication. The systems implemented recently and now under way in the Department of State Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation are other indications of Pennsylvania’s commitment to an aggressive use of information technology in government. Commissioner Richard Filling has been in his post since 1995, directing a bureau that oversees the Commonwealth’s electoral process as well as Campaign Finance, Voter Registration, Office of Notary Public, Commissions and Legislation. When asked to name the area in which there has been the greatest tangible change in information technology in the Bureau, Dick responded immediately with, “Campaign finance reporting.” He continued by reminding us of a scene in his office in 1996. We were in his office then, working on a needs assessment and requirements analysis for a statewide voter registration system. We saw stacks of file folders and papers related to hundreds of campaign finance reports in various filing stages. Quite a few “interested parties” were looking through the papers and waiting for others to arrive. Now, Pennsylvania’s online campaign finance reporting system helps keep the paper shuffling to a minimum. The lines are basically gone. Instead, interested observers view the campaign finance reports over the Bureau’s web page and search engine. Dick commented, “We used to have reporters in the office all the time looking through the reports. Now, we can go through an election cycle and not see more than a few reporters in here going through the campaign finance files. It saves us a great deal of labor by not having to locate all the reports for people requesting information.” The Department of State developed the system in house, taking a gradual approach to building the campaign finance filing and reporting capabilities. After establishing the database, the system started accepting reports by diskette from candidates and committees. The next step, online filing of the reports, is just about finished and ready for implementation. Dick noted, “We get comments all the time from people who have used the system before. They tell us that they have just used the system again and like the new features. We plan to continue building on the system.” In the mid-1980s Pennsylvania started the Pennsylvania Voter Hall of Fame. It gives recognition to voters who have voted in 50 consecutive elections and encourages Hall of Fame members to become spokespersons for voting participation. The program was rejuvenated during the administration of former Governor Tom Ridge. Now, the Commonwealth is about to step into the next major phase of another project. Since 1996, Dick’s office has been working on implementation of a statewide voter registration network to process the records for Pennsylvania’s 8 million registered voters. It is now known as SURE, the Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors. Operating under specific legislation every step of the way and in close adherence with the Pennsylvania Voter Registration Act, the Department of State first commissioned a detailed needs assessment and requirements analysis. Then came a study to confirm the initial requirements and formal demonstrations by numerous vendors. Next there was a comprehensive RFP and evaluation process. The actual project to design and install the system begins the week of July 22, involving a team of implementation vendors. The Pennsylvania Legislature did not wait for Congress to decide on a direction or funding priorities. Its legislation required that all counties use the same software and a standard hardware configuration…and it stepped up to the plate with an $8 million dollar appropriation to fund the project. The legislation also accepted a realistic time schedule. The statewide database and network will come online fully at the beginning of 2005. Key State agencies, including PennDOT (the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation) and the Department of Health have undertaken quality assurance steps to improve the timeliness and accuracy of their intake operations. A goal in the next phase of SURE is to build in greater capabilities for electronic transfer of application data to the counties. When this system comes online, the Department of State will have a full arsenal of systems and applications to support its election operations. Dick says that a major item on his list for information technology improvements would be a system to support management of the information involving Pennsylvania’s 95,000 notaries. Through all these systems implementations and his other work in elections, Dick spends a great deal of time with his family that includes a grandson (Cooper, as in Cooperstown) and his grandson’s dog (Camden, as in Camden Yard), both names closely associated with another of Dick’s interests: baseball. He even finds time occasionally to go to Harrisburg’s unique Riverside Park in the middle of the Susquehanna River to catch a game of the Harrisburg Senators AA baseball team. Not surprisingly, like so many other organizations in Pennsylvania, the team has a fine web site. InfoSENTRY is pleased to have worked with Dick Filling and the Pennsylvania Department of State in the needs assessment and requirements analysis phase of the SURE project and to have traveled to visit many of Pennsylvania’s counties while doing the research on that project. Top of page RFPs for Election Systems Consulting Services If you are getting under way to prepare an RFP for any election information technology such as an election management information system or new vote tabulation equipment, InfoSENTRY professionals can help translate your requirements into a detailed RFP. You can see our full range of services at www.infosentry.com or find out more about our work by contacting helen_sims@infosentry.com . Call us at 919.838.8570. Top of page Please click here to visit our main election systems consulting page. It has a table of contents for previous newsletter issues. Please visit our main information technology consulting page and our information technology project management page. They contain brief descriptions of some of our previous consulting engagements, including those for election jurisdictions. Please click here to visit our main system security and disaster recovery page. Please contact et@infosentry.com if you would like to get a PDF version or a laser printed copy of this newsletter for distribution in your election office. InfoSENTRY Services, Inc. 2 Hannover Square, Suite 1740 Raleigh, NC 27601 P.O. Box 28048, Raleigh, NC 27611 Phone: 919.838.8570 Glenn Newkirk's e-mail: glenn_newkirk@infosentry.com Copyright 2002, InfoSENTRY® Services, Inc. All fights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination without the express written permission of InfoSENTRY® Services, Inc. is strictly prohibited. InfoSENTRY Services, Inc. publishes Election TechReports monthly, focusing on technology trends and issues in election offices. From time to time, Election TechReports might mention the name of vendors' hardware or software products. However, InfoSENTRY® Services is completely independent from hardware and software vendors. Mentions of vendors' hardware and software products in no way constitutes an endorsement or indication of worthiness for those vendors or products.

InfoSENTRY logo
Election TechREPORTS^™
InfoSENTRY® Services www.infosentry.com info@infosentry.com
Issue 9 July 2002 Privacy Policy

FEATURE 1: The Powerful Bite of E-Mail
FEATURE 2: Citizen's Growing Use of Internet for
Government Information
FEATURE 3: Pennsylvania Department of State Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation
FEATURE 4: Writing RFPs for Election Systems Consulting Services

The Powerful Bite of E-Mail

How would you like to have some e-mails from your office computer or your desktop spread upon the front pages of your local newspaper-and the lead story on nightly television news. Well, if you had been the fly on the wall in one governor's office you might have been able to see how it felt.

The Governor's office became involved in a tiff with his state's Chief Information Officer. The tiff escalated resulting in the resignation/termination of the CIO. One thing led to another, and for a variety of reasons the CIO began to release e-mails he had received from the Governor's staff.

Among some of the more memorable quotes in the headline stories, an e-mail from the Governor's office reportedly said that legislators "…don't get oversight unless we give it to them. Garden of the Gods (Colorado) at sunrise In fact, I'd prefer that they not have an opinion unless we give it to them." Another gubernatorial aide's e-mail made the following point: "Ever smell a camel? Believe me, you don't want to spend the night with a camel or have the Legislature telling you how to do your business." Other e-mails named legislators who had their own agenda in attacking the Governor and accused a Member of lying.

Remember, these e-mails became not only the fodder for legislative discussion. They appeared with almost daily regularity above the fold in newspapers and as stories on nightly news.

There is more…much more. The Governor and his staff were very displeased with the release of the e-mails. The Governor explained that he considered e-mails to be "confidential correspondences" and the same as "dinner conversations." A newspaper disagreed and filed requests under the state's Freedom of Information Act for even more e-mails.

In all, it was an enormously embarrassing experience for quite a number of high-ranking government officials.

Regardless of the other effects of this story, it probably has freed up a lot of disk space in the State Capitol as employees rushed to delete e-mails by the thousands!

InfoSENTRY professionals have developed comprehensive system security policies, Internet appropriate use policies, e-mail use policies, and security awareness programs to help avoid one of these "life's most embarrassing moments" with e-mails:

Assume that anything you send or receive in your office e-mail might find its way to a newspaper or television newscast. Be very careful before sending personal notes or flame-mail. Aunt Buffy's Apple Pandowdy recipe or Uncle Chuck's unique medical condition might appear harmless in an e-mail to a co-worker. They will make the sender look much less professional when they are re-printed in the local daily newspaper or are inadvertently forwarded to everyone in an e-mail address book.
Avoid sending information such as passwords and other "confidential" information in e-mails that pass through or to government networks. In their e-mail forms, they are transmitted typically in what is known by computer security folks as "clear text" which means they can be read pretty easily by a lot of people--and they might be subject to disclosure by Freedom of Information inquiries or other public records requests.
Get a copy of and read your state's public records laws and their applicability to e-mail. Don't assume you know these laws. Don't assume that there aren't any applicable laws. These laws are sometimes not clear-cut and make fine distinctions between public records, confidential records, and working papers. Also, some of these laws contain or have related laws dealing with "records retention requirements." Many of those laws cover e-mail. We are aware of one state that requires certain e-mails to be retained either in electronic or paper form for 10 years.
Determine if your state or local jurisdictions' personnel policies cover your rights and responsibilities regarding appropriate use of e-mail. Determine actions that officials can take to examine your e-mail files and use them in personnel actions.
If your office or government agency does not have or is not covered by "appropriate use" policies for the Internet and e-mail, develop them. If you have not undertaken positive, documented steps to make your peers and employees aware of these policies, get started with these steps right away.
Know the cycles for backup and archival storage of computers on which your incoming and outgoing e-mails might be stored. Remember that with Internet-based e-mail, your message might start on your computer and "touch base" in many servers--before it is stored on the recipient's computer. In the meantime, it might be backed up on someone's archive tape. (Oliver North allegedly failed to know about a set of backup tapes that landed him in some hot water!)

E-mail was one of the "killer applications" of the past decade. But it is an application that needs understanding and a touch of care to avoid becoming a major embarrassment to government officials.

Top of page

Citizen's Growing Use of Internet for
Government Information

A recent report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project points to the necessary, active use of the Internet in elections offices. Here are a few quoted findings from the study:

"Fully 68 million American adults have used government agency Web sites - a sharp increase from the 40 million who had used government sites in March 2000…
42 million Americans have used government Web sites to research public policy issues.
23 million Americans have used the Internet to send comments to public officials about policy choices.
14 million have used government Web sites to gather information to help them decide how to cast their votes.
13 million have participated in online lobbying campaigns."

The Pew Internet Project concludes, "A new 'e-citizenship' is taking hold."

So, what does this mean for elections offices?

Most importantly, it means that for elections offices--just like for many other public and private organizations--content is king on the Internet. 2 Hannover Square, Raleigh, NC Many citizens will come to your web site expecting to find something other than the county seal, the state flag, or a picture of the state capitol building. The increasing number of visitors to your site will expect to see information on how and where to register to vote, to check the status of their registration, to find locations of polling places or ballot drop sites, and to get election results.

Even in lean budget times, citizens will expect real information on elections office web sites and your budget writers will expect you to use the Internet to reduce the cost of providing services to citizens.

A second point is one that you probably expected to hear by now. More frequently you will hear the question, "Why can't I vote over the Internet?" The old quick answer of "It's not secure enough" will be one that more voters will not believe or accept. Particularly when the wired voter reads about Great Britain's initiative to have Internet voting in place nationwide by 2006-and if that initiative succeeds-the pressure to move ahead with something other than halting and expensive pilot projects will grow rapidly. Now is a good time to start planning for this eventuality, even while you are getting ready to buy those expensive DRE voting machines. The Pew Internet & American Life Project has developed a good web site where you can read about these and other Internet trends. You can visit it at http://www.pewinternet.org .

InfoSENTRY has a white paper on issues involving use of Internet voting. You can get a copy at www.infosentry.com/Dark_Corner_to_DotCom.htm .

Top of page

Feature Election Office:
Pennsylvania Department of State
Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation

The web address on the state’s license plate is an open indication. The State’s launch of a $380+ million implementation of a new state financial system is another indication. The systems implemented recently and now under way in the Department of State Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation are other indications of Pennsylvania’s commitment to an aggressive use of information technology in government.

Commissioner Richard Filling has been in his post since 1995, directing a bureau that oversees the Commonwealth’s electoral process as well as Campaign Finance, Voter Registration, Office of Notary Public, Commissions and Legislation. Commissioner Richard Filling When asked to name the area in which there has been the greatest tangible change in information technology in the Bureau, Dick responded immediately with, “Campaign finance reporting.” He continued by reminding us of a scene in his office in 1996. We were in his office then, working on a needs assessment and requirements analysis for a statewide voter registration system. We saw stacks of file folders and papers related to hundreds of campaign finance reports in various filing stages. Quite a few “interested parties” were looking through the papers and waiting for others to arrive.

Now, Pennsylvania’s online campaign finance reporting system helps keep the paper shuffling to a minimum. The lines are basically gone. Instead, interested observers view the campaign finance reports over the Bureau’s web page and search engine. Dick commented, “We used to have reporters in the office all the time looking through the reports. Now, we can go through an election cycle and not see more than a few reporters in here going through the campaign finance files. It saves us a great deal of labor by not having to locate all the reports for people requesting information.”

The Department of State developed the system in house, taking a gradual approach to building the campaign finance filing and reporting capabilities. After establishing the database, the system started accepting reports by diskette from candidates and committees. The next step, online filing of the reports, is just about finished and ready for implementation. Dick noted, “We get comments all the time from people who have used the system before. They tell us that they have just used the system again and like the new features. We plan to continue building on the system.”

In the mid-1980s Pennsylvania started the Pennsylvania Voter Hall of Fame. It gives recognition to voters who have voted in 50 consecutive elections and encourages Hall of Fame Pennsylvania Hall of Fame Sign members to become spokespersons for voting participation. The program was rejuvenated during the administration of former Governor Tom Ridge.

Now, the Commonwealth is about to step into the next major phase of another project. Since 1996, Dick’s office has been working on implementation of a statewide voter registration network to process the records for Pennsylvania’s 8 million registered voters. It is now known as SURE, the Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors. Operating under specific legislation every step of the way and in close adherence with the Pennsylvania Voter Registration Act, the Department of State first commissioned a detailed needs assessment and requirements analysis. Then came a study to confirm the initial requirements and formal demonstrations by numerous vendors. Next there was a comprehensive RFP and evaluation process. The actual project to design and install the system begins the week of July 22, involving a team of implementation vendors.

The Pennsylvania Legislature did not wait for Congress to decide on a direction or funding priorities. Its legislation required that all counties use the same software and a standard hardware configuration…and it stepped up to the plate with an $8 million dollar appropriation to fund the project. Pennsylvania State Capitol The legislation also accepted a realistic time schedule. The statewide database and network will come online fully at the beginning of 2005. Key State agencies, including PennDOT (the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation) and the Department of Health have undertaken quality assurance steps to improve the timeliness and accuracy of their intake operations. A goal in the next phase of SURE is to build in greater capabilities for electronic transfer of application data to the counties.

When this system comes online, the Department of State will have a full arsenal of systems and applications to support its election operations. Dick says that a major item on his list for information technology improvements would be a system to support management of the information involving Pennsylvania’s 95,000 notaries.

Through all these systems implementations and his other work in elections, Dick spends a great deal of time with his family that includes a grandson (Cooper, as in Cooperstown) and his grandson’s dog (Camden, as in Camden Yard), both names closely associated with another of Dick’s interests: baseball. He even finds time occasionally to go to Harrisburg’s unique Riverside Park in the middle of the Susquehanna River to catch a game of the Harrisburg Senators AA baseball team. Not surprisingly, like so many other organizations in Pennsylvania, the team has a fine web site.

InfoSENTRY is pleased to have worked with Dick Filling and the Pennsylvania Department of State in the needs assessment and requirements analysis phase of the SURE project and to have traveled to visit many of Pennsylvania’s counties while doing the research on that project.

Top of page

RFPs for Election Systems Consulting Services

If you are getting under way to prepare an RFP for any election information technology such as an election management information system or new vote tabulation equipment, InfoSENTRY professionals can help translate your requirements into a detailed RFP. You can see our full range of services at www.infosentry.com or find out more about our work by contacting helen_sims@infosentry.com . Call us at 919.838.8570.

Top of page

Please click here to visit our main election systems consulting page. It has a table of contents for previous newsletter issues.

Please visit our main information technology consulting page and our information technology project management page. They contain brief descriptions of some of our previous consulting engagements, including those for election jurisdictions.

Please click here to visit our main system security and disaster recovery page.

Please contact et@infosentry.com if you would like to get a PDF version or a laser printed copy of this newsletter for distribution in your election office.

InfoSENTRY Services, Inc.
2 Hannover Square, Suite 1740 Raleigh, NC 27601
P.O. Box 28048, Raleigh, NC 27611
Phone: 919.838.8570
Glenn Newkirk's e-mail: glenn_newkirk@infosentry.com

Copyright 2002, InfoSENTRY® Services, Inc. All fights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination without the express written permission of InfoSENTRY® Services, Inc. is strictly prohibited. InfoSENTRY Services, Inc. publishes Election TechReports monthly, focusing on technology trends and issues in election offices. From time to time, Election TechReports might mention the name of vendors' hardware or software products. However, InfoSENTRY® Services is completely independent from hardware and software vendors. Mentions of vendors' hardware and software products in no way constitutes an endorsement or indication of worthiness for those vendors or products.