Electronic voting for UA may soon be reality

Although students may not have the opportunity to vote for Undergraduate Assembly representatives electronically in this spring's elections, voting over the World Wide Web may soon be a reality at the University. The concept, which would allow students to vote by computer -- utilizing a system similar to Penn InTouch -- was presented at a December UA meeting by Nominations and Elections Committee Vice Chairperson and Engineering sophomore Ben Goldberger. Director of Student Life Activities and Facilities Fran Walker said the project is moving along nicely. "Ben and Ning [Chi Hsu, NEC chairperson and Wharton senior,] and I have met with Information Systems and Computing to see the possible costs, timeline and programming," Walker said. "It would have to be done by the staff at ISC, so it is a matter of cost and whether there is someone available to program it," she added. The NEC and ISC have been given the go-ahead to look into the possibilities, she said, adding that the University is waiting to see the final proposal and costs before giving approval. Goldberger said he believes the system will be installed, although he was unable to predict when the project will be complete. "Whether voting will be by computer for spring elections remains to be seen, but we hope the system will be in place by the fall," Goldberger said. He added that delays are possible due to the complicated nature of the program required. "We would like to create a system which could be used for Class Board and senior class award voting," he said. "Therefore, the first time we set it up it will be a lot of work -- afterwards it should be easy. We want a program that is versatile." But there are still those who doubt the security of the system. When the proposal was presented in December, UA member Josh Rockoff expressed concern, claiming that he had seen people break into PennNet and Penn InTouch many times. And Rockoff, a College sophomore, commented last week he still felt the security question has not been resolved. "The electronic system certainly makes it easier to vote, but you also can have people voting 10 or 15 times," Rockoff said. "It is a great idea. I would like to see it looked at further rather than rushed into." In the interests of security, the program will be written and installed by professionals at ISC, rather than by a student, Walker explained. ISC is currently looking into the options for the system, according to Associate Vice Provost for Information Systems and Computing Dan Updegrove.