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1. Name: Michael I. Shamos, Ph.D., J.D.  
2. Title: Distinguished Career Professor, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University

3. Voting Machines
Position:		 Pro to the question "Do electronic voting machines improve the voting process?"
4. Reasoning:

"Electronic voting can be made reliable with a thorough combination of design, manufacture, certification, testing and rigorous administrative and security controls. The systems must be used properly according to stated protocols. If this is done, then electronic systems are far more secure than any systems that employ physical ballots." (Testimony before the United States Commission on Civil Rights, 2004)

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

6. Involvement:
  • Distinguished Career Professor, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
  • Consultant on electronic voting systems to Pennsylvania Secretary of Commonwealth (2004-current); Nevada Secretary of State (1996); Delaware Legislature (1989)
  • 1980-1996 - Statutory of Examiner of electronic voting, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (examined over 100 different electronic voting systems)
  • 9 testimonies regarding electronic voting sytems before government entities, including U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Committee on Civil Rights, U.S. Election Assistance Commission, and state legislatures of Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Maryland
7. Education:
  • J.D., Duquesne University, 1981
  • Ph.D., Computer Science, Yale University, 1978
8. Relevant Affiliations/Honors:
  • 2003-current - Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Privacy Technology
  • Distinguished Lecturer in Computer Science: McGill University (1979), University of Rochester (1978)
  • 1974-1983 - Fellow, Society of Sigma Xi
  • 1974-1975 - IBM Fellowship, Yale University

9. Contact Info:
Phone: (412) 268-8193 Fax: (412) 268-6298
E-Mail: shamos@cs.cmu.edu
Web Site: http://euro.ecom.cmu.edu/people/faculty/mshamos/index.shtml
10. Other: Author of 17 books or chapters in books and 26 peer-reviewed journal publications, including:
  • "Evaluation of Voting Systems," Communications of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) 47(11): 144, 2004
  • "Paper v. Electronic Voting Records - An Assessment," Proceedings of the 14th ACM Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy, 2004
  • "Electronic Voting - Evaluating the Threat," Proceedings of the 3rd ACM Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy, 1993
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