Computer Science - elections

CS Table 11/29: Election Hacking

petersos — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 14:49:39 +0000

At this CS Table we will discuss a recent turn of events in the presidential election: election security experts are calling for recounts in several critical states. Why are they doing this, and why do we need to recount or audit our elections?

Read these three recent articles building up to this recent call:

Bruce Schneider. Election Security. In Schneier on Security. Posted on 11/15/2016.
Ron Rivest and Phillip Stark. Still time for an election audit: Column. Posted on 11/18/2016.
J. Alex Halderman. Want to Know if the Election was Hacked? Look at the Ballots. In medium.com. Posted 11/23/2016.

In addition, to give you more background on the perils of voting and technology, read this paper by researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor about breaking into Internet voting systems:

(PDF) Scott Wolchok, Eric Wustrow, Drawn Isabel, J. Alex Halderman. Attacking the Washington, D.C. Internet Voting System. In Financial Crytography and Data Security. Volume 7397, pp 114–128. Springer-Verlag, 2012.

Printed readings are available at Noyce 3827.

Computer science table (CS Table) is a weekly meeting of Grinnell College community members (students, faculty, staff, etc.) interested in discussing topics related to computing and computer science. CS Table meets Tuesdays from 12:00-1:00pm in JRC 224B. Contact the CS faculty for the weekly reading. Students on meal plans, faculty, and staff are expected to cover the cost of their meals. Visitors to the College and students not on meal plans can charge their meals to the department.

CS Table 4/12: Role of data science in elections

petersos — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 13:14:07 +0000

Join us for a discussion of the role of data science in elections. The four articles below discuss the novel use of data in President Obama's 2012 reelection campaign, the Cruz campaign's approach this election cycle, and two retrospectives on Nate Silver's predictions from the 2012 election.

Inside the Secret World of the Data Crunchers Who Helped Obama Win. Michael Scherer, Time Magazine, 11/07/2012.
Cruz campaign credits psychological data and analytics for its rising success. Tom Hamburger, The Washington Post, 12/13/2015.
In Defense of Nate Silver, Election Pollsters, and Statistical Predictions. Zeynep Tufekci, Wired, 11/02/2012.
Numbers nerd Nate Silver's forecasts prove all right on election night. Luke Harding, The Guardian, 11/07/2012.

Computer science table (CS Table) is a weekly meeting of Grinnell College community members (students, faculty, staff, etc.) interested in discussing topics related to computing and computer science. CS Table meets Tuesdays from 12:00-12:45 in JRC 224C. Students on meal plans, faculty, and staff are expected to cover the cost of their meals. Visitors to the College and students not on meal plans can charge their meals to the department.

CS Table / CSC 295, October 15: Internet voting

stone — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 22:54:24 +0000

This Friday at CS Table, we'll talk about the possible use of the Internet as a medium for casting ballots in elections in the United States. Here are some readings to inform and point up the discussion:

ACE Project. Internet voting.
Urbina, Ian. States move to allow overseas and military voters to cast ballots by Internet. The New York Times, May 8, 2010.
Epstein, Jeremy. DC Internet voting trial intermediate results. Risks digest, October 1, 2010.
Halderman, J. Alex. Hacking the D.C. Internet voting pilot. Freedom to tinker, October 5, 2010.
Basch, Michelle. D.C. voting pilot program filled with security holes. WTOP.com, October 8, 2010.
Mercuri, Rebecca. Rebecca Mercuri's statement on electronic voting. 2007.

As usual, we'll meet at noon or a little after, in Rosenfield 224A.