“Open Source” for Digital Voting Technology
John Sebes
Here’s a question that came up a few times in our recent visit with the Congressional Internet Caucus: what exactly do you mean by open source? One variant of this question was: how can you expect to develop for real elections if you are operating as a "chaotic collective of flip-flop-wearing techno-hippies?"
It’s a good question, and worth an detailed answer, which I ask you to read on our wiki (here) if you want the complete answer. But a short summary here is:
Everything we develop, we do openly and make available to all.
The software we develop is open-source software, with basically familiar open source licensing, but with some twists to deal with U.S. regulations on elections and technology.
We are an open source community, welcoming contributions of many kinds, but we have some structure that matches our mission to deliver technology that can be used in U.S. government elections.
And lastly, I’d like to point out that in our open spirit of welcoming all stakeholders, participants, and contributions, all of the following are very much welcome and appreciated: suits, ties, tee shirts, and flip-flops!
EJS