Starting at 22 minutes and lasting 16 minutes

These are the initial questions that were  posed by the audience.

1.Could we as non technical folks administer the system on town meeting nights?

The minimum skills to operate the voting laptop and software is basic knowledge of PowerPoint.  Training is included in the delivery and price of the system.

2.  Has this been used for any New England Town meeting?

The system is widely used in many market segments in the world and in Massachusetts including the Wayland Public School System but, if this were to be adopted, Wayland would lead New England.  Wayland would show the way to the future.

3.Is cost going to be addressed.

The original petitioners article allows for up to $150,000. The system as configured is quoted at $145,000.  There is a 2 year warranty included and after that it is 8% of the system cost per year to maintain the warranty and upgrades.  There is a return on investment through saving nights at town meeting and for the citizens on a personal level based on saving them time and their expenses in paying for babysitting services.

4. 4.Protecting one vote per person.
   

      The practice now is that nobody can enter the field house while voting is going on.  This is supervised by the police.  The same principle would apple in reverse.  When people leave the field house, nobody would be allowed to leave without returning and checking out their keypad.

5.Can the software be hacked… how safe?

The system has multiple levels of security.  Click here for much more detail.

6.Can the signal be jammed?

It would take a very expensive and coordinate operation within the meeting hall and this is an FCC felony with prison and fines associated.  This isn’t going to happen. Click here for much more detail.

7.Is each vote for each keypad recorded?

The system records all votes vs. keypads and it also know who holds the keypads.  The information could be archived, used for verification or destroyed.  This is yet to be determined.

8.What obligations for the town clerk?

The town clerk verifies the votes now and would do the same for this system.  No real change.

9.How easy is it for the moderator to pose a question on the fly?

Very easy to use the system at will for custom questions and powerpoint slides could be quickly edited to reflect those questions.

10.Is there an auditing program prior to starting town meeting?

The equipment is on a maintenance agreement to make sure it work.  The keypads are tested when they are handed out.  An initial audit to prove in the system for the satisfaction could be done.

Our current methods of shouting and standing and being counted are highly error prone and are not audited.

            Click here for a recent example of this.

11.Could this be modified for people standing in line for debate?

This entails a different system and has nothing to do with this system.

12.What applications is this usually sold into?

Business, universities, religious organizations, city, state and federal governments, unions, shareholders, game shows, ad-hoc town meetings, Wayland public school system.  Click here for much more detail.

13.What happens if there is a one vote difference?

Then there is a one vote difference.  The town meeting rules would apply to a revote if that is desired by a show of hands and a re-vote would be just as quick.

14.I just changed my vote, how would this work at the meeting?

You would have an open window (ie. 60 seconds) to place your vote.  The last button you hit is your final vote.  When the window closes the keypads will no longer register votes.

15.Will the tally be visible at all times?

The tally will be visible at the end.

16.Is this like "Who want to be a millionaire?"  Same technology?

This is one way to look at it… yes.  But unfortunately there is no million dollar prize awaiting you.

17.What is the legality of using this system?

The Secretary of State only controls voting equipment at the polls.  Not at town meeting.  Wayland is free to choose its own methods.

18.What about the IT skills of the town clerk or who has to administer this?

The minimum skills to operate the voting laptop and software is basic knowledge of PowerPoint.  Training is included in the delivery and price of the system.

Starting at 49 minutes and lasting 13 minutes

These are the final questions that were  posed by the audience.

1.What about the cost of the system in more detail?

$145,000 initial cost which includes 2,000 clickers, 4 receivers, laptop with software, 4 welcome stations with bar code scanners and software, 2 year support and warranty.  After that...

8% initial price per year for hardware warranty, system checkout, yearly battery replacement, software upgrades.

Given 9,100 registered voters this is $16 / voter on initial cost and $1.27 / voter per year support.

System will also result in saving town money in less town meeting nights and saving the citizens money on child

care costs.  This savings figure is not easily modeled but is expected to be very large.

Town sharing or renting is another way to reduce our costs.

2.Software or programming costs?

$495 / year after the first year but this should be lumped into the 8% support plan.

3.Lets say we have more people show up than 2,000 - how do we handle that ?

We can purchase more clickers in batches of 500 for other venues since the limit at the field house is 1,875.

4.What does the town clerk have to do in this ?

The town clerk would have no additional duties in this electronic voting implementation.

Running the equipment at the town meeting could be done by the town administrator and/or the BoS office secretary. The town administrator has told me (Alan Reiss) that this logistic would be worked out by his office.

5.Cost with respect to other models ?

Representative town meeting?

Australian Ballot?

See the film for this at about 58 minutes into the meeting !

6.Judy Currier comments on Representative Town meeting ?

Changing the way the government of the town is done is a multi-year process through the legislature.

E-Voting could be implemented in 6 months vs. 6 years for other solutions...

See the film for this at about 59 minutes into the meeting !

7.Comment on Babysitting costs ?

Babysitting costs were $120 per night so ‘she’ would gladly give $16 / person to pay for this.

See the film for this at about 61 minutes into the meeting !