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1. Name: Jerry Berkman  
2. Title: Former Programmer/Analyst at U.C. Berkeley
3. Voting Machines
Position:
Con to the question "Do electronic voting machines improve the voting process?"
4. Reasoning:

"A lot of people used to think this [paper trail] would solve the integrity problems with electronic voting machines (DREs). However, they are really poorly made, costly, and don't work as expected. As an example, in one election in Cayahoga County (Cleveland), over 10% of the paper trails were either lost of jammed or otherwise could not be used. And research has showed that most voters don't look at them. Also, research shows DREs with many more undervotes than optical scan... DREs with paper trails work so badly that I don't know anyone who favors them anymore. Some people say they'd rather have a DRE with a paper trail than a paperless DRE, but they also say they'd rather have optical scan than DRE with paper trail... So my answer is that DREs with or without paper trails should be banned." (Email to ProCon.org, July 19, 2007)

5. Credibility
Ranking:
 Experts
Election officials, people with post-graduate degrees in a computer science, J.D.s, Members of Congress, or elected officials with significant involvement in, or related to, electronic voting machine issues

6. Involvement:
  • Former Programmer/Analyst at U.C. Berkeley
  • Webmaster, Election Reform/Protection Web Site
7. Education:
  • Certificate, Information Technology Security, SysAdmin-Audit-Network-Security Institute (Sans)
8. Relevant Affiliations/Honors:
  • Member, Democracy for America Meet-up Group
  • Member, East Bay for Democracy! Meet-up Group
9. Contact Info:
Phone: (510) 654-5199 Fax: None listed
E-Mail: jerry@uclink.berkeley.edu
Web Site: election-reform.org
10. Other: Selected Presentations:

  • "Multi-campus Email Panel," University of California Computing Services Conference (UCCSC), 2000
  • "Updating the UCLink Web Site - Tips and Ideas and Multi-Campus Panel Regarding Email Services," University of California Computing Services Conference (UCCSC), 1999
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