The Buying Election Products

When buying election products, consumers should be aware of their sources. If they are buying products with a foreign owner, there is a high risk of foreign interference. Election vendors often lack oversight and disclosure about their ownership, which can result in conflict of interest. For example, officials might give vendor contracts in exchange for gifts or special treatment. This lack of transparency makes it difficult to evaluate the influence of foreign owners. Purchasing the election booths involves a number of legal and ethical guideline to put in place. 

 

In some countries, vote buying is illegal. However, it occurs throughout the world. It occurs when candidates promise to return favors by giving their supporters a gift or free item in exchange for their vote. These gifts and free items are not required for someone to vote for a candidate, and the incentives are usually purely economic in nature.

 

Vote buying undermines the autonomy of citizens. People who receive vote rewards may need to use that money for their own family and needs. Moreover, it perpetuates the cycle of corruption. Although the money obtained by vote brokers may be used to provide medicine to communities, the people who receive them may not have any incentive to raise their own standards of living.

 

Many election vendors provide voter registration websites, voting machines, and associated technological infrastructure. In some cases, they also design, integrate, and maintain voter registration databases and electronic pollbooks. According to a 2017 report from the University of Pennsylvania, the election systems industry is estimated to generate $300 million in annual revenue. Besides vendors that specialize in voting systems, I voted stickers and many other election-related goods and services are offered by third parties.

 

Congress should extend the EAC's voluntary certification authority to include election vendors and their products. This would complement the existing voluntary federal certification of voting systems. This certification would be administered by the Testing and Certification Division of the EAC. However, the EAC would need additional personnel to oversee vendor certification. This paper recommends several steps that the EAC should take to improve election vendor certification.

 

Election vendors often fail to disclose security breaches, which undermines public confidence. Additionally, election officials are often unaware of the vulnerabilities of their vendors. Because of this, it is important to ensure that vendors have robust incident reporting requirements and mandates to work with election authorities to address any breaches. If possible, vendors should disclose foreign ownership to customers and provide ongoing updates on security issues.

 

Election vendors should adhere to federal guidelines for election security. A federal mandate to use certified vendors could create problems for local governments. Some states would consider this as an unwelcome usurpation of their power. Moreover, implementation of such a federal program would be politically challenging. In addition, some states may consider a federal mandate to use certain vendors as unwelcome. Check out this related post to get more enlightened on the topic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election.