It’s election day in the United States of America. Experts agree that this may very well be one of the largest turnouts in history. That being said, many citizens are concerned about the legitimacy of the votes being cast along with the possibility of their votes not being counted at all. We must inevitably accept the progressive move into electronic voting. Below you will find an article written by Kevin Bosnor and Johnathan Strickland helping to map out the psychological ideas that many citizens have concerning e-voting (electronic).

The public must trust that elections are fairly conducted in order for a democratic government to be considered legitimate. If the public perceives elections to be unfair, the foundation of the government is weakened. Whether electronic voting systems are fair may not even matter; it is the public perception that is crucial. At the moment, the latest electronic voting systems in use (particularly DRE systems, which according to Election Data Services, serves as the voting equipment available for 38 percent of the nation’s registered voters) are receiving a great deal of scrutiny and criticism. Citizens, private companies and elected officials are spending more time carefully examining these systems and the implications of their use.

Though debate on the issue of e-voting has been and will continue to be passionate, most critics recognize that a move towards electronic voting systems is an inevitable step in the evolution of our voting process. Because our democracy depends upon the public believing in fair elections, these systems must be shown to be as secure and reliable as other voting methods.

That is probably much easier said than done. Reports of lost data, corrupted files, bribed officials, vendor partisanship, unsecured information and other scandals have been in the news several times since 2000. While these reports likely create an unrealistic expectation of unreliability, they are legitimate causes for concern. It will be the responsibility of the states and vendors to determine the best means of creating public trust.

Some of these methods will likely include more stringent tests, careful discussions about the balance of proprietary information against the need for source code validation, and discussions on the balance between voter anonymity and the need for a reliable audit system. While these are big issues, elections are by their very nature important to our government and way of life. Considering that, is any issue too large to address?

We are so proud of our fabulous clients, Maven, for the success of their launch party this past Friday. It was a wonderful event for the PR duo of Renae Placinski and Sarah Vargo. Their many clients and associates all came to the glamorous turn out at the Galleria Unico followed by the amazingly fun time at the beautiful new la Passage. It was an all around great turnout and a lot of fun to be at. Thank you Sarah and Renae for throwing such a great launch party and we wish you the best in your endeavors. Interested in what Maven can do for you and your business? Check out their brand new website, designed by blueye of course, here.

Over the weekend I attended an art show at my friends’ gallery, Oh No! Doom. The exhibit was called We Need Each Other. 40 Chicago area artists represented what ON!D are calling Chicago’s Collaborative Imagination. Each artist was given a sketch of the next artist’s work and were to make sure that each piece would fit together once placed next to each other on the wall. I spoke with Joel ‘Chips’ Estrada a month before the show and he mentioned that they were somewhat nervous yet excited as to how the how piece would turn out once everyone’s work was turned in and fit next to each other. The result, a masterful concept came to life before your eyes! One would have never known that these artists didn’t have more than a simple sketch of what the works of arts to the left, right, below and above them would look like and how they would connect. The tiled piece was virtually seamless and the more your eyes scanned over the piece, the more the pieces would unfold in front of you. Some tiles appeared as if they were about to leap off the the wall and grab you. This is a great collaborative effort and the pieces will be up in the Oh No! Doom gallery until November 11th. If you have a chance, take the time out to stop by and visit.

Oh No! Doom Gallery is located in Logan Square:

2955 W. Lyndale St. (corner of Sacramento and Lyndale)

Chicago, IL 60647

Hours:

Thursdays 7PM-10PM

Saturdays 12Pm-4PM

If you don’t have time and want to catch a small glimpse of how the show turned out, check out their images on Flickr.