Summit 2015 Workshop Agenda

9:00 AM

9:30 AM

Workshop - Registration and Welcome

9:30 AM

11:00 AM

Lawyers' Committee Morning Workshop: Mind the Match: A look at how and why voter registration applications are rejected
 
Topics will include how jurisdictions are interpreting the Help America Vote Act’s database matching requirements; how matches with the Social Security Administration and DMV databases can create barriers; and whether online voter registration is part of the solution. Participants will collectively create a list of best practices that can be utilized in registering and processing voters to ensure applicants become eligible voters. 

Facilitator: Gary Bartlett, Former Director, North Carolina State Board of Elections

Overseas Vote Morning Workshop: End-to-End Verifiable Internet Voting: Promises, Capabilities, and Risks. 

In this workshop, we will review the state-of-the-art in the area of end-to-end secure verifiable internet voting.  What promises does such a technology have, if experts can design a system that is secure, usable, and accessible?  What are the capabilities of such a system, and how do they change the nature of voting, especially for overseas and disabled voters?  What hopes and expectations, expressed by LEOs and politicians, can be fulfilled, and which ones are unrealistic, or for which there is little evidence?  What are the risks associated with deploying such a system, and can they be mitigated in a cost-effective way?

Target Audience
Local and state election officials, federal parties interested in elections (i.e., NIST, EAC, DoD employees), researchers or developers in election systems, security professionals, anyone with an interest in the future of overseas or disabled voting.

Expected Outcomes
Participants will come out of this workshop with a firm understanding, at a non-technical level, of the cutting-edge research and development on end-to-end verifiable internet voting.  Participants will see and use several demonstration systems. Participants will be introduced to the key actors in the area and will have a direct line to the top researchers, companies, and activists in the area.

Facilitators: Joseph Kiniry, Research Lead, Rigorous Software Engineering, Verifiable Elections, High-assurance Cryptography, and Audits-for-Good and Technical Project Manager for the OVF End-to-End Verifiable Internet Voting Research and Feasiblity Study; Keith Instone, Usability Expert, User-Experience.org; Judy Murray, Research Consultant, U.S. and Overseas Vote Foundation; Tammy Patrick, Senior Advisor to the Democracy Project, Bipartisan Policy Center

FairVote Morning Workshop: The Right to Vote: A Constitutional Right, A Local Opportunity

To protect voting rights for all, and address historically low voter turnout in local elections, this workshop will spotlight FairVote's Promote Our Vote project. Promote Our Vote is a model for local action to establish a Right to Vote in the U.S. Constitution, and in that spirit, improve civic participation and engagement. The session will feature speakers working to extend voting rights to 16 and 17 year old residents in Maryland municipalities, as well as collaborative brainstorming around practices and policies to improve local democracy. Discussion topics will include engaging youth, outreach to less engaged segments of the electorate, expanding local access to the vote, and structural reforms for local policymakers.

11:00 AM

11:15 AM

Break for Reconvening

11:15 AM

12:00 PM

Joint Session - all Workshop Groups Convene

12:00 PM

1:30 PM

Workshop Lunch Break - Flexible Length - each group decides

1:30 PM

3:00 PM

Lawyers' Committee Afternoon Workshop: Creating Connections: How advocacy groups and election officials can work together to improve and administer elections
 
This workshop will focus on the opportunities for collaboration between advocacy groups and election officials to improve election administration. We will highlight examples from both perspectives, and then engage participants in a discussion on strategies to improve communication and collaboration moving forward.

Facilitator: Edgardo Cortes, Commissioner, Virginia Department of Elections

FairVote Afternoon Workshop: Introduction to Structural Reform: Thinking Nationally, Acting in Your Community

FairVote makes the case for ranked choice voting as a solution to the growing trend of polarization and gridlock. This "teach-in" workshop uses the example of the U.S. Congress to make the case for why winner-take-all elections can result in unrepresentative and broken government, and how the use of ranked choice voting represents an effective fix. Although it uses Congress as an example, it will introduce how you can bring ranked choice voting and all its benefits to your city council, county government, and state offices.

U.S. Vote Afternoon Workshop: "Appreciative Inquiry" Brainstorming Session on Civic Engagement

Join us for an interactive work session, dissecting brilliant voting moments in the world, using strengths to design for the future, and generate energy with appreciative inquiry focus. This will be a  fast moving, interactive, information producing workshop geared around the goal of innovating within voting and increasing voter engagement. Be ready to dive right into a rapid-paced brainstorming session that will get you reflecting, ideating, and moving quickly into concept generation.

Facilitators: Marguerite Dibble, GameTheoryCo.com and Augusta Featherston, International Foundation for Electoral Systems

3:00 PM

3:15 PM

Break for Reconvening

3:15 PM

4:00 PM

Joint Session - all Workshop Groups Convene

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