the oasis election & voter services technical committee progress report john borras chair...

The OASIS Election & Voter Services

Technical Committee

Progress Report

John Borras Chair Technical Committee

COE e-Voting Review Meeting Madrid 16 October 2008

www.oasis-open.org

Development of EML (Election Markup Language)

OASIS TC History

• Formed March 2001

• Chair since Aug 2001- UK Gov’t (currently Ministry of Justice)

Committee Membership

• Governments, Corporations, Election Services providers, Academia

The Challenge

It is extremely unlikely that in the future elections will not have some e-enabled component(s). It’s probably more a question of how many components and when they are introduced. But there are still many concerns to be allayed and a good deal of confidence that needs to be built before e-voting becomes the norm.

Standards are the base on which to build future e-enabled elections that will be trustworthy, open and creditable.

EML Deliverables

Process and Data Requirements• Outlines voting processes• Identifies data requirements• Contains glossary of terms• Addresses security issues

XML Schemas• Overview of approach taken in preparing the

schemas• 38 Individual schemas

White Paper – The Case for EML

Current and Future TC work

Version 5.0 approved in Dec ‘07 Awaiting approval as an ISO Standard Compiling list of changes for inclusion in next

version Provide more advice and guidance on

implementation issues Assist with national localizations Develop compliance accreditation processes Ongoing enhancements to accommodate any

changes in voting policies/legislation

ISO/JTC1 Approval

Submitted by OASIS to ISO under PAS arrangements

Formal ballot by JTC1 voting members (40)• 44 observers without voting rights

Approval requires two-thirds majority of the voting members in favour and not more than one-quarter of the total number of votes cast against

Timescale – 2 months ballot, awaiting start date

ISO/JTC1 Voting MembersCountry Organisation

AZERBAIJAN AZSTAND

BELGIUM IBN

CZECH REPUBLIC CSNI

DENMARK DS

FINLAND SFS

FRANCE AFNOR

GERMANY DIN

IRELAND NSAI

ITALY UNI

MALTA MSA

NETHERLANDS NEN

NORWAY NSF

SLOVENIA SIST

SPAIN AENOR

SWITZERLAND SNV

UNITED KINGDOM BSI

ISO/JTC1 Non-voting MembersCountry Organisation

AUSTRIA ON

BULGARIA BDS

CROATIA HZN

CYPRUS CYS

ESTONIA EVS

GREECE ELOT

ICELAND STRI

LUXEMBOURG LXMBRG

POLAND PKN

PORTUGAL IPQ

ROMANIA ASRO

RUSSIA GOST R

SLOVAKIA UNMS

SWEDEN SIS

UKRAINE DSTU

SERBIA TCVN

Take-up UK election modernisation programme Flemish local elections USA Election Assistance Commission’s (EAC)

draft Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) encourages suppliers to use EML

Australian General Election California State Elections EU e-Poll project Misc – EU Suppliers, USA VIP Project

Summary Technology will not go away; future

generations will demand its use Standards are the base on which to build

future e-enabled elections that will be trustworthy, open and creditable

EML is the recognised international open standard

With your help we can evolve it to meet the challenges ahead

Help us achieve ISO approval please

John Borrasjohnaborras@yahoo.co.uk

OASIS TC

www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=election