White paper

Automated election system

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Introduction This document is an overview of a system that can be implemented for automating the electoral process. The purpose of the document is to provide the reader with an understanding of the benefits that an automated election system can deliver with a glance into the underlying architecture of the system and examples of experience of governments that have used these systems in the past. The main objective of an Automated Election System is to make use of technology that is now available and replace outdated manual procedures in the elections in order to achieve the following primary goals:   

Mitigate the factors that can potentially compromise election integrity Reduce the time for calculating and announcing electoral results from days to hours If required to recount the votes, perform this instantaneously preventing any undesired repercussions

The purpose of an Automated Election System is to deliver state-of-the-art technology that is both efficient, allowing electoral authorities to utilize the benefits of a computerized system and also practical, maintaining the basic principles that the voters and election personnel are accustomed to. This solution makes use of the latest technologies that allow electoral authorities to complete counting and canvassing processes in a matter of hours, a task that traditionally took days. The system automates the scanning, counting, consolidation and transmission of the votes, in a secure and traceable manner, reducing the chance of human error, tampering or fraud attempts and increases the integrity of the elections. The approach that Gilat takes with Election Systems is a total end-to-end solution approach encompassing all of the necessary aspects to ensure a successful project. This includes system design and planning, integration and implementation, logistics and deployment, operations and support and an experienced dedicated team of project management professionals assigned to take full responsibility for the project goals.

Highlights of the Automated Election System:     

Fast Results. Voting results are delivered from all of the polling sites in a matter of hours. Security. Highly secure platform that addresses all potential flaws of IT networks Control and Reports. Full control over all elements of the system throughout the entire election process and real-time status of every site Efficient Operations. The automated elections system is managed by a group of dedicated professionals that are specifically trained to be able to tackle any malfunction or event in the most efficient way. Unique End-to-end offering. Gilat offers turnkey systems that consist of in-house technology and integrated tools designed at high quality standards along with full responsibility for the integrity of the entire system and process before, during and after Election Day.

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Automated Election System Overview Gilat’s solution is comprised of the following main subsystems described hereafter: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Voting Subsystem Canvassing/Consolidation Subsystem Election Management Subsystem Transmission Subsystem

Voting Subsystem The voting subsystem includes all of the components of the system that are responsible for recording the votes. Either one of the folowing technologies (or a combination) can be used for this purpose depending on the preferences and considerations of the government authority implemeting the system. PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scan) In this approach, the votes are made on paper (ballots) and there is a device at the precinct into which the ballot is inserted and scanned.      

Scans paper ballots Stores the results digitally Analyzes the vote and obtains the result from each ballot Aggregates all of the votes to construct precinct results report Prints in a number of copies Digitally signs and sent to a canvassing center PCOS

CCOS (Central Count Optical Scan) In this approach, the ballots from a group of precincts are transported to a central location for scanning in batches.      

Rapid Vote counting, in speed of 60 ballots per minute Real-time recording of vote information at 99.995% accuracy Ballot authentication and operator alert in the case of fraud Ease of Operation and Deployment Single-unit solution, rapid installation. Real-time status reports at control site. CCOS

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DRE (Direct Record Electronic) In this approach, the voter casts his vote on an electronic touch screen.      

Easy & Quick Process Touch Screen for Voting Use Smart Card to Vote Printer for Analog Backup Backups & Security Battery Backup for Power Outage

DRE

iVoting (Internet Voting) A secure system for allowing citizens to vote from a remote location (e.g. overseas embassy staff, military and marine forces, etc.)    

Highly secure platform Supports multiple languages Simple and user-friendly voting interface. Support multiple voting channels: web browsers; mobile phones and PDAs

Canvassing/Consolidation Subsystem This sub-system is responsible for gathering all of the voting information, calculating the results and producing the necessary reports. CCS (Consolidation Canvassing System)  

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Consolidates nationwide voting results Hierarchical canvassing/consolidation stages: o Polling sites sent to Municipality o Municipality results sent to Province/State/District o Province/State/District results sent to National level Creates, prints, encrypts and transmits ERs Transmits to main server & upper levels Creates statistical reports

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The canvassing/consolidation system sites are designed to include all software and hardware as a standalone system that can function regardless of communication and/or utility power

Election Management Subsystem The purpose of this sub-system is to allow centralized management of the election process and to provide realtime status of the elections during the process. EMS (Election Management System)      

Facilitates all election management activities Imports list of candidates or project of precincts Creates status reports of precinct information Displays transmission status updates Produces final consolidation reports Provides declaration of winning candidates

Re-using the system in Future Elections: Election is a repetitive operation that occurs every specified period of time. Adding to that the fact that there are different types of elections and/or different scopes of elections and the need to support multiple elections. Gilat’s EMS gives each election a unique 'Election ID' by which all the Meta data and canvassing results are identified. Different Election Day has different Election ID and could have different election Meta Data. The system can be re-used for the following future elections:  National and Local Elections  Referendum  Recall election  Special election

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Transmission Subsystem ETS (Electronic Transmission System) Gilat’s transmission system is specifically designed to handle elections information transfer in the most efficient way taking into consideration the large number of sites and the nature of the traffic load and the sensitivity of the information.  Polling sites communication will be connected using the most suitable network: satellite modem (VSAT), cellular or DSL  Canvassing sites will be connected via the satellite network due to the sensitivity and the load of the traffic from these sites.  Main site hub system dynamically allocates the required bandwidth and priority to the transmitting VSATs at canvassing and polling sites to ensure that the sufficient network resources are available during the critical hours and to prevent traffic congestion or delays.  Redundant transmission to main site acts as a backup in case of any event or failure affecting the main transmission site.

The offered solution is considered an inherent mission-critical application. To ensure maximal availability, high Service Level Agreement (SLA) is considered for the available infrastructure while the added satellite based layer is design to meet 99.8% availability. The design takes into consideration that any remote sites with no infrastructure can be covered by a satellite modem (VSAT). In addition, the satellite system offering includes a full geographical-redundancy hub maintained in standby mode in case of any disaster. The second geographical redundant hub takes over the entire VSAT network operation in case of active hub failure, minimizing downtime and data loss. Page 6

What Happens When Elections Are Over? Electronic voting systems are comprised of state-of-the-art technologies. Many authorities may choose to re-use these technologies for additional applications. Gilat’s system is flexible and can be easily and rapidly relocated and reassigned to other applications: o Border control- sites can be easily shifted and deployed along border areas. Users can use the satellite modem to transmit data and fingerprints o Police- adding phones or faxes enables sites in/near police stations to become telecommunication center for the police o Internet access for education- polling sites located in schools, can easily become an internet access centers for education by just adding few more PCs (Gilat can bring in e-learning content) o Government- by adding PCs, faxes and phones a site can easily serves as government agencies o Other usages: rural telephony, post applications, internet kiosks

Border Control

Military/Police

Automated Election System

e-Goverment

Education

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Integrated End-to-End Solutions Gilat takes full responsibility for the entire project Enterprises, governments and operators that take on projects need to create a high quality efficient solution within a minimal timeframe. Organizations need to have access to up-to-date technologies required and have a dedicated team of professionals to support the logistic demands of the project. This is especially true for projects that involve connecting of many remote locations in rural areas. In these cases Gilat provides the organization with a full turnkey service for the management and deployment of the project no matter how remote the sites are. Gilat’s skilled project professionals handle the project management, solution design, equipment procurement, installation and integration. Gilat delivers a fully operational system including all of the sub-systems within the desired timeframe. The benefits to the client are the following: 

Ensures project success

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Full control of budget and schedule – no last minute surprises

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Fast return on investment at minimal risk

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Receive a complete integrated solution that is up and running

Our professional project personnel and worldwide presence and local support have allowed us to successfully deliver many large scale turnkey projects around the world.

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Project Management Gilat takes a “Customer First” approach to project management, taking full responsibility for meeting the project goals and objectives within the scope, time and budget. Gilat employs a group of skilled project managers, experienced in accompanying customers through all of the phases of a project. Our project managers work closely with the customer in understanding and clearly defining the requirements and the constraints. Gilat has acquired experience in large-scale rural projects which have required a great deal more than just delivering a technology. These projects involve designing customized solutions, provision and integration of multiple systems, development of management and monitoring tools, logistics, training and on-site support.

The share of technology in large scale projects

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Solution Design Gilat provides System Design and Planning services to our customers at the early stages of a turnkey project Solution design is a key factor in the success of a project. Creating a well formulated design and project plan is the best way to ensure that the system will be deployed on time and within the budget constraints. The design phase is a step-by-step process the first stage of which is analyzing and defining the solution requirements. Then the solution is broken down into subsystems (e.g. hardware, applications, communications, logistics, security etc.) and the available products are evaluated. The next stage is the system topology planning to reach the required number of units for the system. Then the most suitable products are evaluated, selected and finally tested to ensure that they meet the system requirements.

The network design includes the following stages:

An advantage of Gilat’s solutions is that they are designed to be used for multiple purposes once a new need arises. e.g. an elections infrastructure can be reused after election day for other e-government projects such as border control, police, education and rural applications.

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Implementation and Integration Gilat can leverage its experience in integrating 3 rd party systems and developing customized solutions Gilat’s End-to-End solution includes Installation and Integration. This involves the delivery of a system that includes 3rd party equipment for various purposes such as connectivity, telephony, power, security and application and the development of management and monitoring systems that integrate the separate components of the system.

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Deployment Logistics Gilat has gained experience in deploying projects logistically challenging areas

Satellite communication is a critical component in rural projects since reliable terrestrial communication is virtually non-existent in these regions. VSATs are therefore the most practical and cost-effective choice that also enable rapid deployment of communications to the villages. Since the VSAT technology is based on a central hub, the remote villages do not need any technical expertise to have the network up and running.

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Operational Services The Operational Services that Gilat and its subsidiari es provide include system logistics, installation, helpdesk, performance monitoring, equipment maintenance and training Having a single point of contact for the operational aspects of a project saves money, time and resources. Gilat offers customers system operation services. Gilat operates as a service provider in rural areas in Latin America. In these regions, Gilat uses the Build-andOperate model for subsidized government projects. The services include operating public phones and telecenters and distributing pre-paid cards for telephone usage at remote villages. In addition, Gilat uses its infrastructure to provide services to enterprises and residential customers. Gilat also provides customers in the USA with value-added services, including hybrid networks and outsourced network management. Gilat’s equipment and services are deployed at more than 100,000 business, government and residential locations in the U.S. Spacenet customers include Dollar General, Goodyear, Intercontinental Hotels Group and Sunoco.

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Maintenance and Support Simplified maintenance through a Centralized Control Approach An important part of Gilat’s End-to-End solution is the Maintenance and Support service. This includes providing the necessary updates and repairs to the equipment in the system to ensure smooth and fault free running of the system through helpdesk services, on-site technician support and training. Having the need to maintain or dispatch product specialist to remote sites introduces logistic difficulty and high cost. Gilat understands this and therefore designs and build solutions that have the system intelligence and complexity at the central site while the equipment at the remote location is simple and robust. This design reduces the risk of remote site faults requiring on-site specialist attention and allows full control of system by the experts located at the central site.

Sophisticated Central Site Simple, Robust Remote Sites

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Case Study - Angola Elections On 5 September and 6 September 2008 the 220 seats in the Angolan National Assembly were elected. Over eight million voters were registered by August 2008. The legislative elections held special importance because after years of civil war and a lack of democratic process in Angola, these elections were a milestone for a successful reconciliation process in the country. The success of the elections was therefore of national importance and created new opportunity for the generations to come to benefit from peace and stability. Inatel, a government agency belonging to Angola’s Ministry of Administration and Territories, decided that an independent and secure network is needed to ensure the success of the elections. Inatel chose Gilat to provide this as a turnkey project which included planning, installation, training and network operations for the elections project. Gilat provided Inatel with an integrated solution comprising computers, telephones and network equipment covering hundreds of sites across the country. As part of the solution, Gilat provided all necessary equipment for operations such as solar panels, printers, faxes and other equipment. Gilat designed the solution to accommodate the many challenges of such a project, including the country's harsh terrain and vast expanses. Gilat’s experience in implementing complex logistic projects enabled rapid installation of the sites. Reaching the remote villages was a challenge, in many cases requiring an airplane or helicopter and then further travel by truck. This was handled by Gilat’s project management. Most of the remote sites had no infrastructure so Gilat provided all the equipment necessary for a complete and successful implementation. Doing so ensured that all the equipment was delivered together, installed and properly integrated helping to overcome issues of interoperability. As there was no electricity at the remote sites, Gilat provided specially designed solar panels that accommodated the power requirements of all the equipment, including communications equipment, computers, faxes, and printers. Gilat provided network operations, ensuring the successful delivery of services to all the remote sites without delay.

Gilat’s experience in operating complex logistic projects enabled rapid deployment of the system for the Angola elections project without delays.

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Case Study - Venezuela Elections Gilat was chosen in 2004 by the Venezuelan electoral entity, CNE, to deploy and manage over 3,000 voting sites for the upcoming referendum. The main challenge of the project was to have all of the sites installed, integrated and fully operational in only 45 days. In a huge logistic operation, Gilat project management team organized the airlift of the equipment to Venezuela. Training facilities were set up in Caracas to train installation and proper operation of the equipment. All the while, Gilat was completing the system integration and finalizing the design for the successful referendum vote. On August 15 2004, as the first voting booths were opening, Gilat’s project management had been able to achieve the task. The system was fully operational. Gilat’s technicians that were operating the system ensured that everything was trouble-free during the vote. Over 3000 sites were commissioned and fully functional, including the successful integration with the voter identification sub-system. As voters streamed in, the online system verified that each voter was correctly identified, eligible and that they had not already voted. Since then, Gilat has provided services and support for four additional successful elections projects in Venezuela.

Gilat successfully managed the elections project which was installed and deployed within 45 days including integration between software and communications systems for centralized control.

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