A Case Against Dimpled Chads Spokane Venture Capitalist Casts Vote For Technology That Allows Online Elections

For the past year, Tom Simpson felt that VoteHere, a Bellevue technology, had a bright future.

The Spokane venture capitalist wasn’t sure, though, about investing several million dollars in the new firm.

VoteHere’s product - a secure, online software-based election system - seemed five to seven years from reaching widespread acceptance, Simpson figured.

But then the Florida presidential election fracas occurred.

“That was the best thing that could have happened” for VoteHere’s future, said Simpson, managing partner in Northwest Venture Associates, based in Spokane.

That flap over chads, dimpled ballots, endless recounts and court battles means policy-makers and the public both want a smarter, simpler way to run an election, Simpson said.

Along with money from Compaq and Cisco, Simpson invested $10 million in the 2-year-old business.

Most of the money invested comes from Northwest Ventures, the largest venture firm focusing exclusively on emerging Northwest companies.

The investment placed Simpson onto VoteHere’s six-member board of directors.

Compaq and Cisco invested because they likely would provide hardware and networking expertise to develop the technology, said Simpson.

VoteHere tested its technology in the Nov. 7 election by placing computers at polling places in several Arizona and California counties.

Voters who cast ballots on regular machines also voted on VoteHere computers for test purposes, said marketing director Victor Woodward.

Eighty percent of the testers said they found VoteHere’s system simple and would prefer to vote online.

Those watching election technologies predict that in the next few years two or three companies will become the key providers of electronic voting systems.

They say the process will begin with widespread adoption of computerized systems for county and state elections, with machines set up only at polling places.

After a few years of computer voting, analysts predict elections will eventually allow voters to cast ballots from home, over the Internet.

Before voters start clicking instead of punching holes, the technology needs to establish that it’s safe, secure and noninterruptible, said Dave Elliott, an assistant director of elections in the Washington Secretary of State’s office.

VoteHere CEO Jim Adler founded the company three years ago, using software with highly sophisticated encryption features.

“We had a technology and then went out and found a tough problem that it could help solve,” he said.

Elliott, who reviews such technology for possible use in Washington state, has high regard for VoteHere’s system. But he’s also impressed by EBallot, another technology developed by Seattle’s Validity Systems.

EBallot is the only system used in two binding elections so far, said Elliott. Earlier this year, EBallot was used to tabulate more than 5,000 votes cast during the Reform Party’s 2000 presidential nominating process.

The second, also this year, involved a Democratic primary election for presidential electors in a single Arizona county.

“I’m proud that of all the systems trying to solve online voting, the two best seem to be from the Seattle area,” said Tim Robertson, Validity’s vice president for business development.

VoteHere and EBallot use different ways of creating voting security and privacy. VoteHere relies on an encrypted digital signature specific to each voter.

EBallot relies on some encryption, but also uses a series of user passwords and software systems that track every step in the voting process.

“In their version, if someone cracks the encryption, then the whole thing is cracked,” said Validity’s Robinson.

“Ours is more difficult to interrupt or crack,” he said.

Both companies see the market as much larger than government elections. Each hopes to see its products used in corporate stockholder elections, nationwide opinion polls and union elections.

But Elliott said neither company’s products are ready for full use.

The Federal Elections Commission has established standards for such online voting. Neither VoteHere nor EBallot has submitted products to the FEC for certification, Elliott said.

“They must feel their technology isn’t ready to be used on a broad, national scale yet.”