Prime III: Studying Usability & Security in Electronic Voting for Everyone

美国人最重要的权利之一就是投票权。 然而，从最近的全国选举中可以明显看出，目前的投票制度并不总是能为所有人，特别是有某种残疾或不识字的人提供独立、私下和安全投票的适当途径。 统计数据表明，这是一个严重的问题，因为在美国，多达四分之一的成年人是功能性文盲，几乎五分之一的人自称患有某种类型的残疾。 我们只能预计这个问题在未来会变得更加严重，因为残疾的可能性随着年龄的增长而增加，人们的寿命也越来越长。 基于这些考虑，PI设计了一个名为Prime III的原型直接记录电子投票系统，目标是实现可用的安全性-即一个安全且选民信任的系统，同时也易于使用。 为此，Prime III的开发有两个重要的研究组成部分：人机交互（HCI）和安全性。 人机交互问题已经在原型中通过口语、触摸屏和其他多模式技术的结合得到解决，以提高以前无法在没有帮助的情况下投票的人的能力。 在安全方面，各种专家所关注的问题（如易受黑客攻击、恶意工作人员、错误代码、缺乏重新计数能力和人为错误）已通过冒名顶替文件、多种加密技术和开源格式等解决方案得到解决。 PI在奥本大学校园内对Prime III原型进行的一项非正式研究取得了令人鼓舞的结果，绝大多数用户更喜欢Prime III而不是目前可用的替代品。 这笔资金将使PI能够完善他对该系统的初步设计，并在老年人、功能性文盲和视力受损者等投票人群中进行更大规模的研究。 利用这笔资金进行的研究将开始，具体来说，在亚拉巴马聋哑人和盲人研究所，并将继续在亚拉巴马的尤宁敦，其市长，尊敬的菲利普白色，已欣然同意参加PI的研究。更广泛的影响：总理III将扩大包括文盲问题在内的各种残疾选民的参与。 预计该系统最终将作为未来人机界面的模型，其中需要将可用性问题与安全问题相结合。

One of the most important rights that Americans have is the right to vote. However, as has become apparent from recent national elections, current voting systems do not always adequately provide a way for all people, especially those with certain kinds of disabilities or who are unable to read, to vote independently, privately and securely. Statistics indicate this is a serious problem, in that up to one fourth of the adults in the United States are functionally illiterate, and almost one in five self-report a disability of some type. We can only expect the problem to become more acute in the future, because the likelihood of a disability increases with age, and people are living longer. Considerations such as these have led the PI to design a prototype direct recording electronic (DRE) voting system called Prime III, with the goal of achieving usable security - namely, a system that is secure and that voters trust, yet which is also easy to use. To this end, development of Prime III had two important research components: human-computer interaction (HCI) and security. HCI issues have been addressed in the prototype through a combination of spoken language, touch screen, and other multimodal technologies, in order to enhance the ability of people who previously could not do so to vote without assistance. With respect to security, concerns that have been noted by various experts (such as vulnerability to hackers, malignant workers, faulty code, lack of recount ability, and human error), have been addressed through solutions such as imposter files, multiple encryption techniques, and an open source format. An informal study conducted by the PI with the Prime III prototype on the campus of Auburn University yielded promising results, with the vast majority of users preferring Prime III over currently available alternatives. This funding will allow the PI to refine his initial designs for the system, and to conduct larger scale studies among voting populations such as the elderly, the functionally illiterate, and those who are visually impaired. Studies to be conducted with this funding will begin, specifically, at the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, and will continue in Uniontown, Alabama, whose Mayor, the honorable Phillip White, has graciously agreed to participate in the PI''s research.Broader Impacts: Prime III will broaden the participation of voters with various disabilities including those with illiteracy issues. It is anticipated that the system will ultimately serve as a model for future human-computer interfaces where there is a need to blend usability issues with security concerns.