Tuesday, October 20, 2009

PROCEDURE TO MITIGATE ISSUES ARISING FROM LISTENER BARCODE MISPRINT KPFA LSB ELECTION 2009

PROCEDURE TO MITIGATE ISSUES ARISING FROM LISTENER BARCODE MISPRINT
KPFA LSB ELECTION 2009

Due to a print house mistake all listener ballots were coded with listener membership codes and not the anonymous barcode as directed. Here are some of the issues identified so far and proposed solutions. All feed back is welcomed.

ISSUE 1: The identity of the member voting is compromised as his/her membership code is the barcode.

ANALYSIS & PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
Is this a big problem?
- Member ship codes range from 3 to 6 digits and we are talking about a list of 20936 listeners that are valid voters with member ship codes. We have 2895 (plus 65 “problem” ballots) valid ballots. Unless you have access to the MEMSYS department and have almost Superhuman Powers to memorize these - I don’t think that this is a problem. In other words – having membership codes attached to the ballots for the purposes of judging if the ballot is indeed valid (which we will do on Saturday) does not appear to breach anonymity. On the other hand if after ballots are processed (barcodes scanned and ballots scanned) – someone with access to MEMSYS gets a hold of the ballots associated to the membership codes then this may compromise the voters identity – after the fact.

I propose that before we seal the ballots for posterity (after ballot barcodes/membership codes and the ballots themselves are scanned) we remove the barcodes by simply cutting off the corner of the barcode. Barcodes should be kept in the same place that the ballots are kept. This way we can assess later on that the same number of barcodes is associated to the number of ballots processed to make sure that only valid votes were used. The only risk in this case is that one could theoretically trace WHO actually voted but not HOW they voted.
- Here a reference about human memory and capacity to retain strings of digits and matrices. Exceptional Memory. KA Ericsson, WG Chase - American Scientist, 1982 - psy.cmu.edu, cited by 121 primary source journals – see Google Scholar search.








ISSUE 2: Duplicate and Triplicate Barcodes
- There are ballots which were issued the same barcode as they correspond to household membership numbers (approximately 3000 potential duplicates).
- There are reissued ballots that have the same number as the original barcode printed by the mailhouse because there is overlap between the reissued barcodes and the membership codes (10 duplicates due to membership number for 1 individual overlapping with the reissued ballot barcode of another individual, 5 triplicates due to membership number for a household of 2 individuals overlapping with the reissued ballot barcode of another individual)

ANALYSIS & PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
Is this a big problem?
- The list of live barcodes that will be issued to the barcode screener will allow for the acceptance of duplicates and triplicates for these cases ONLY. Additionally there will be an “OR” statement included in order to adjust for individuals who were reissued a ballot (reissued barcode) but ended up using their first ballot (membership number).
- The only issue here is that someone other than the valid voter photocopied one of these duplicate or triplicate ballots and submitted the ballot and their ballot barcode was screened BEFORE the valid ballot barcode. In order to adjust for this - the reject ballot box will be rescreened to identify potential valid ballots at risk of this occurring (all duplicates or triplicates).

ISSUE 3: Volunteers were issued a blank ballot
- There are 165 volunteer that did not get a reissued ballot. Their ballot had no barcode as they have no membership code.
- All ballots that were found with no barcodes were kept separate in the box of “problem” barcodes.

ANALYSIS & PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
Is this a big problem?
- 165 votes lost represents approximately 0.7% of the total number of valid listener voters.
- There are approximately 50 blank return ballots which represents approximately 1.6% of the total number of votes cast (including 65 “problem ballots” – this was 2958).
As an alternative to reissuing ballots to all volunteers – which would not be good practice as the election is over – we can assess the originality of the blank ballot (original printing marks are being identified today) and assume that these represent volunteers that cast their votes.

PROPOSED PROTOCOL FOR KPFA LSB ELECTION 2009 BALLOT COUNTING PART II – Scanning Barcodes and Ballots

PROPOSED PROTOCOL FOR KPFA LSB ELECTION 2009 BALLOT COUNTING PART II – Scanning Barcodes and Ballots

Staff Election - Tuesday October 20 - 7 pm in Performance Studio at KPFA
Listener Election – Saturday October 24 (3 pm) & Sunday October 25th (as needed) at Bay Area Alternative Press (BAAP)

Note: Candidates are welcome to witness but may NEVER touch ballots.

The following is an outline of the suggested protocol for scanning ballot barcodes and scanning the barcodes themselves. All feedback is greatly appreciated. The objective is to provide a theoretical guide in order to facilitate the organization of the ballot counting process.

STEP 1: Preliminary Check that all Ballot Boxes are Intact, Recount and Resorting
- All participants will sign in at the door.

- When at least 2 witnesses are present we will check that the boxes packaged on Saturday October 18th are sealed and signed. Then we will open and verify the contents (written on the outside of the box).

- For staff there are 2 boxes (rejected ballot box with 3 ballots, valid good quality staff ballot box with 141 ballots, envelop with 32 poor quality ballots which require the transfer to new ballots before scanning)
- For listeners there are 6 boxes (5 boxes with valid ballots, 595, 610, 347, 543, 800, 1 problem ballot box, 66 total). For listener ballots we did not separate out ballots of poor quality which will require transfer to new ballots. The problem ballot box includes mainly ballots which lack a barcode, are written in red ink or ink of another color)

- For staff we will move on directly to step 3 as all barcodes have already been scanned.

STEP 2: Barcode Scanning

- All listener ballot barcodes will be scanned including those in the problem ballot box which have barcodes (those in red ink).
- The rejected ballots will be cross checked with the list of “live” listener barcodes to make sure that they were not wrongfully rejected.
- As ballots are scanned and found to be eligible votes, we will separate out the ballots of poor quality that require the transfer to a new ballot.
- A “Poor Quality Ballot: Red ink (or other color, not blue, black or pencil), Crosses or checks instead of filled in boxes, Entry mistakes requiring interpretation, and other markings which may affect legibility

- STEP 3 and STEP 4 can be done at the same time to speed up the process.

STEP 3: Poor Quality Ballot Vote Transfer

- For ballots of poor quality, with at least 2 witnesses representing different parties of interest we will transfer individual rankings to new ballots in order to process them.
- For staff - one person (the LES) will transfer information from the original ballot to the replacement ballot.
- For listeners, as we have many more poor quality ballots, we will have 3 people doing the transfer; one of these people will be the LES. All three will sit at the same table together with witnesses and 3 separate log sheets
- All ballots requiring interpretation will be discussed and the resulting interpretation will reflect the input of parties. In the event that there is a real division - the local election supervisor will make the call and this may be to not use the ballot.
- Each ballot which undergoes this process will be marked with a series code in this format, O (for Original) or R for Replacement), a number to document the sequence (1 to X, integers in BLACK INK, lower RIGHT corner) and the initials of the person doing the transfer. - A log of the process will be kept (hardcopy). Each log entry will document the series code (NOT the barcode) and the witnesses present. For the listener ballot log we will also keep track of time in the form of sessions as the process will be a lot lengthier. If a ballot was rejected as no interpretation was possible, then this will be noted. - After all poor quality ballots have been transferred to new copies - we will scan the replacements.

STEP 4: Ballot Scanning, Sorting & Trouble-shooting, Computer Software Processing

- Accepted Ballots (with a “live” barcode”, originals in good condition or replacements) will be scanned into the computer one by one.

- Every ballot (good quality originals and replacements) will be marked BEFORE SCANNING with a serial code to be able to track processing. The serial code format will be as such: O (for Original), a number to document the sequence (1 to X, integers in BLACK INK, lower LEFT corner) and the initials of the person assisting the person responsible for feeding the scanner (they can be one in the same. If there are two scanners (we hope), then the code will include an additional number (1 or 2 for scanner number 1 or 2)

- The computer software will then translate the images into numbers corresponding to the ranking on each ballot.

- The rankings will be used to compute the results based on the single transferable vote calculation.
- After all ballots have been processed the original ballots and replacement ballots (stapled together lower left corner) will be kept together in the order that they were scanned order, sealed and signed in a box together with the original copy of the transfer log. The log will be photocopied before sealed into the box in order to create an electronic file for purposes of transparency.

All raw scanned data will be available to any participant after everything has been processed.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

KPFA Ballot Counting - Sunday October 18th - 10 am till 1130 pm @ BAAP (Bay Area Alternative Press)


Polls were closed on October 15th at 12 midnight. Rough numbers show that over 50% of KPFA staff voted in this election and approximately 13-14% of listeners.

KPFA Ballot Counting will occur - Sunday October 18th - 10 am till 1130 pm @ BAAP (Bay Area Alternative Press, http://www.bay-area-alternative-press.org/) - located at 1847 Alcatraz Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94703.

After discussions with the election committee and the national election supervisor and BAAP members, here is a proposed protocol and visual model to help guide the ballot counting process.

All feedback is greatly appreciated. Please circulate.

Doors are open to those wishing to witness and volunteer. Candidates can witness but cannot touch any ballot materials.

Please review the documents and contact myself or Sally Sommer of the election committee ("sally sommer" ) with your questions.

Thank you for your participation!

Renee Asteria

http://kpfaelection2009.net
SUGGESTED PROTOCOL FOR KPFA LSB ELECTION 2009 BALLOT COUNTING Sunday October 18th - 10 am till 11:30 pm at Bay Area Alternative Press (BAAP)
See MODEL Document

Note: Candidates are welcome to witness but may NEVER touch ballots.

The following is an outline of the suggested protocol for ballot counting. All feedback is greatly appreciated. The objective is to provide a theoretical guide in order to facilitate the organization of the ballot counting process.

STEP 1: Preliminary Check that all Ballots Pick-ups and Packages are present by reading Renee’s Pick-Up Log

- All participants will sign in at the door.

- At 10 am (or when enough witnesses are present) we will do a group check of all un-processed ballots which will be organized by pick-up and present in large marked plastic bags.

- We will do this by comparing pick-up by pick-up (back by bag) to Renée’s Pick-Up Log.

- Ballots were packaged in bundles of 50 (or less) with tape and marked with the date, pick-up number and signed by ballot- pick-up volunteers.

- Once this has been completed 1 pick-up bag will be kept for initial processing (step 2) and the rest will be locked in David’s office and taken out for processing when needed.

- Renée will move the ballots to and from the locked office.

STEP 2: Ballot Sorting Table
- All Volunteers will sign up – no candidates are allowed to process ballots.

- 5 Volunteers on either side of the table open up envelops and sort contents into the appropriate box (boxes: listener or staff ballot box, problem ballot (no barcode) box, donations box, junk mail & empty envelop box)
- At any onetime there are 10 volunteers processing ballots (5 on either side of the table)

- The empty envelop box and junk mail box will be reprocessed to ensure that no ballots or donations have been missed.

- A simple log (tally) will be kept to track the number of packages processed.

- Each ballot must be inspected to make sure it is anonymous. This may require the removal of any identifiable information such as names or addresses.

- Once the ballot boxes are full they are moved to the locked office until ready for step three.






STEP 3: Barcode Ballot Screening & Sorting

- Volunteers will sign up.

- All ballot barcodes will be scanned and screened for eligibility at 2 stations.

- Ballots will be either rejected or accepted and sorted into respective boxes.

- Each barcode is associated to a unique vote.

- This is done in order to remove the possibility of duplicate votes.

- Ballots which are rejected will be kept for follow-up.


STEP 4: Ballot Scanning, Sorting & Trouble-shooting, Computer Software Processing

- Ballots will be scanned into the computer one by one.

- Every scanned ballot will be marked with a number by order of processing.

- The computer software will then translate the images into numbers corresponding to the ranking on each ballot.

- The rankings will be used to compute the results based on the single transferable vote calculation.

- Problematic ballots will be kept aside for trouble shooting.

- The processing of problematic ballots may require the transfer to a new ballot in order to process the vote.

- If this is the case, the interpretation of ranking on the problematic ballot will be done based on the judgment of multiple parties who are not candidates.

All raw scanned data will be available to any participant after everything has been processed.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Staff Forum

The second staff forum was recorded in order to allow for staff who could not attend to hear staff candidate voices. Five of the 7 staff candidates running in this election participated. The format was an open ended discussion.

CLICK HERE TO PLAY Staff Forum Introduction

CLICK HERE TO PLAY Question One: Direction of KPFA as a form of participatory media

CLICK HERE TO PLAY Question Two: Balancing Music and Public Affairs

CLICK HERE TO PLAY Question Three: Pros and Cons of having Staff sit on a Board of Directors

CLICK HERE TO PLAY Question Four: Why Staff and Listener elections are separated
CLICK HERE TO PLAY Question Four continued: Why Staff and Listener elections are separated

CLICK HERE TO PLAY Question Five: Discussion of Programming and Program Council

CLICK HERE TO PLAY Question Six: Bringing new voices in while respecting tenured staff

Participants in this Discussion: Lewis Sawyer, Antonio Ortiz, Anthony Fest, Emiliano Echeverria, David Gans

Missing from the Discussion: Renee Yang-Geesler, Laura Prives

CLICK HERE FOR STAFF CANDIDATE STATEMENTS

Third and Final Local Station Board Onair Forum Series

FINAL ONAIR FORUM FORMAT

The final onair forum format consists of candidates asking other candidates a question. Each candidate will have a chance to ask 1 question to the others. The order of appearance was randomly assigned.

Each question will be answered by all candidates. Questions must be general directed to all other candidates.

After each candidate has asked a question questions were be taken from the public.

In each hour 3 to 5 candidates participate.

CLICK HERE TO PLAY 700 pm: Broadcast of KPFA LSB Candidates Forum Radio Show - October 5th 2009

CLICK HERE TO PLAY 700 pm: Broadcast of KPFA LSB Candidates Forum Radio Show - October 6th 2009

CLICK HERE TO PLAY 700 pm: Broadcast of KPFA LSB Candidates Forum Radio Show - October 7th 2009

CLICK HERE TO PLAY 700 pm: Broadcast of KPFA LSB Candidates Forum Radio Show - October 8th 2009

CLICK HERE TO PLAY 700 pm: Broadcast of KPFA LSB Candidates Forum Radio Show - October 9th 2009 TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES WITH ARCHIVE

CLICK HERE TO PLAY 1000 am: Broadcast of KPFA LSB Candidates Forum Radio Show - October 10th 2009 TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES WITH ARCHIVE