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SMART is an acronym

Learn what we stand for

ABOUT US

Who we are

SMART Elections is an innovative, non-partisan project. We serve U.S. voters, advocates, election officials and the general public. 

Mission

We are transforming U.S. elections so they are secure, fair, accessible, well-administered and publicly verifiable. We want the public to have full confidence in election results. 

OUR SOLUTIONS

A  screen that says "WHAT WE WERE TAUGHT ABOUT VOTING." An image with a large Vote! Logo from Rock t

INFORM: Communicating the problem

Problems with our elections have been festering for years, but are not well understood.

  • The core of our #ElectionProtection platform is our innovative, fun non-partisan forum that educates the public and officials about ongoing issues with U.S. elections. We focus on actionable improvements that experts recommend. The forums have reached tens of thousands of viewers.  
  •  In the U.S. all elections are local, so we work locally to educate, connect, and empower communities to improve their elections. 
  • We work closely with the disability rights community. The forums have ASL interpreters courtesy of Sign Language Connection (SLC) at the Center for Disability Rights. Closed Captioning is available live on Facebook, and on the YouTube replay. 

CONNECT: Collaborative organizing

SMART Elections is building bridges with groups across the political and issue spectrum.


  • Collaboration is the key to sparking a successful transpartisan movement to improve U.S. elections.

EMPOWER: Public watchdog

We teach advocates and non-partisan poll watchers best practices to protect and monitor elections, using publicly available data. 


  • The Brooklyn Transparency Pilot Project compared the number of voters who signed in with the number of ballots scanned in a few select polling locations in Brooklyn. We found one location, that seemed to have almost 700 more ballots scanned than voters. We are following up on that information and expanding the program. After our report, the NYS Board of Elections Co-Chair reached out to us to collaborate on a new poll watcher program. When the public gets involved in oversight of elections, we can improve elections and raise public confidence.

ELECTION REFORM MOVEMENT

Seven sectors of election reform

  1. Voting rights (ending voter suppression)
  2. Disability rights (access for voters)
  3. Anti-corruption (getting money out of politics)
  4. Fair Redistricting (ending gerrymandering)
  5. National Popular Vote (ending the Electoral College)
  6. Ranked Choice Voting
  7. Security

Our area of expertise is election security

If security is not addressed - and votes are not counted accurately - then all other reforms are at risk. 

KEY AREAS FOR TRUSTWORTHY ELECTIONS

Voting Equipment & Systems

The equipment that we vote on. Most voting machines in use in the United States currently use proprietary software and have often been shown to have serious security vulnerabilities in both their design and their execution.


Security experts recommend hand-marked paper ballots for voters who are able to mark by hand. For voters unable to mark by hand, or who prefer to use an assistive device, experts recommend ballot-marking devices that do not tabulate and have other secure design requirements.  We advocate for these types of systems to be used in all jurisdictions. 


We oppose these systems on the basis of security research by respected academics and experts: 

  • Hybrid Voting Systems that combine printing & tabulating of ballots
  • Votes encoded in barcodes
  • Ballots printed on thermal paper
  • Touchscreen Voting Machines for all voters, instead of just voters who need them. 

Process, Procedures, and Chain of Custody

The chain of custody of all ballots, voting systems, and equipment and media used to count votes must be guarded carefully by multiple parties at all times. These protocols need to be established with legislation and reinforced through education and best practices.  

Transparency

Strong public oversight, robust audits and public access to all documentation are needed to confirm that election results are correct and for the public to have confidence in them. These protocols need to be established with legislation and reinforced through education and best practices 

Legislation & Regulation - We have a Sister Organization that focuses on this connected issue

The rules that govern our electoral process. This includes:

  • Federal and state legislation 
  • Agencies that establish and enforce rules and regulations for elections, like the Election Assistance Commission and Boards of Elections, which need to be run by qualified staff that are free from conflicts of interest. 


These rules control and influence many of the issues SMART Elections is working to improve. 

#ELECTIONPROTECTION FORUM HOSTS

Moderator: Lulu Friesdat - Election Security Journalist & Executive Director of SMART Elections

Moderator: Lulu Friesdat - Election Security Journalist & Executive Director of SMART Elections

Moderator: Lulu Friesdat - Election Security Journalist & Executive Director of SMART Elections

  Ms. Friesdat is a thought leader, documentary filmmaker and TEDx Speaker. She co-founded and runs two nonprofits to improve and raise confidence in U.S. elections, SMART Elections and the Action Partner: SMART Legislation. She's contributed to Emmy award-winning coverage at ABC News and produced election security investigations that rec

  Ms. Friesdat is a thought leader, documentary filmmaker and TEDx Speaker. She co-founded and runs two nonprofits to improve and raise confidence in U.S. elections, SMART Elections and the Action Partner: SMART Legislation. She's contributed to Emmy award-winning coverage at ABC News and produced election security investigations that received over four million views. She's been both quoted and featured in the New York Times; and her journalism and advocacy work have been featured in The Washington Post, The Hill, Politico, Now This, Salon, MSN.com, the Young Turks, Truthout, City & State NY, NY Focus, The NY Daily News, Gothamist, The Post & Courier, 1010Wins, WBAI, and the Albany Times Union. She's had assignments with NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, CBS, Fox News Channel, and Nightline. Her first documentary "Holler Back - [not] Voting in an American Town" was featured in The Hollywood Reporter as part of a group of "thoughtful and provocative" films being made by women. Follow her on TikTok: Lulu_Friesdat

Co-host: Bennie Smith - Tennessee State Election Commissioner & Software Developer

Moderator: Lulu Friesdat - Election Security Journalist & Executive Director of SMART Elections

Moderator: Lulu Friesdat - Election Security Journalist & Executive Director of SMART Elections

Mr. Smith is an advocate for election transparency, and serves on the Technical Advisory Team for SMART Elections. He was featured in a PBS News Hour segment on “What election officials think about paper ballots and voting machines.” He is best known for his proof of concept research examining election system vulnerabilities. It was cover

Mr. Smith is an advocate for election transparency, and serves on the Technical Advisory Team for SMART Elections. He was featured in a PBS News Hour segment on “What election officials think about paper ballots and voting machines.” He is best known for his proof of concept research examining election system vulnerabilities. It was covered by Bloomberg in its Cyber Security Segment and he was profiled in a cover story by Bloomberg Businessweek. Smith’s research is credited for uncovering an extraordinarily high-risk tampering mechanism and provides a new method for analyzing questionable election results. It is the foundation for the Ballot Image Project and has been presented to election officials, elected officials and at security panels around the country.   @BennieJSmith

Technical Advisory Team

David Bader Ph.D.

Duncan Buell Ph.D .

Duncan Buell Ph.D .

Distinguished Professor & Director of the Institute for Data Science at New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Duncan Buell Ph.D .

Duncan Buell Ph.D .

Duncan Buell Ph.D .

  Emeritus Computer Science Professor University of South Carolina  

Rich DeMillo Ph.D.

Duncan Buell Ph.D .

Laura Pressley Ph.D

 Distinguished Professor of Computing 

Georgia Tech 

Laura Pressley Ph.D

Stephanie Singer Ph.D.

Laura Pressley Ph.D

 Founder of True Texas Elections 

Stephanie Singer Ph.D.

Stephanie Singer Ph.D.

Stephanie Singer Ph.D.

Data Scientist &

Former Philadelphia Election Commissioner

Bennie Smith

Stephanie Singer Ph.D.

Stephanie Singer Ph.D.

 Shelby County Election Commissioner & Software Developer  

DIGITAL BALLOT IMAGE ADVISOR

John Brakey

Co-Founder & Director

AUDIT-USA

AdvisorS

Andrea Miller - Voting Rights

Jan BenDor - Former Election Official

Andrea Miller - Voting Rights

Founding Board Member, Executive Director, People Demanding Action

Jarret Berg - Voting Rights

Jan BenDor - Former Election Official

Andrea Miller - Voting Rights

Attorney and Voting Rights Advocate; 

Co-founder of Vote Early NY

Jan BenDor - Former Election Official

Jan BenDor - Former Election Official

Jan BenDor - Former Election Official

 State-wide Coordinator

Michigan Election Reform Alliance 

Virginia Martin Ph.D. - Audits

Kari McKim - Audits & Observation

Jan BenDor - Former Election Official

   Former Election Commissioner

Columbia Co, New York 

Kari McKim - Audits & Observation

Kari McKim - Audits & Observation

Kari McKim - Audits & Observation

   Former Coordinator

Wisconsin Election Integrity 

Lisa Tarricone - Accessibility

Kari McKim - Audits & Observation

Kari McKim - Audits & Observation

Executive Director

Taconic Resources for Independence, Inc.

Holly Mosher - Outreach Consultant

T.J. O'Hara - Anti-Corruption & Outreach

T.J. O'Hara - Anti-Corruption & Outreach


Producer & Filmmaker

T.J. O'Hara - Anti-Corruption & Outreach

T.J. O'Hara - Anti-Corruption & Outreach

T.J. O'Hara - Anti-Corruption & Outreach

Principal Political Analyst

Independent Voter Network 

Team Members

Amber Shiau

Gretchen Ackerman

Gretchen Ackerman

Nonprofit Management Coordinator

Gretchen Ackerman

Gretchen Ackerman

Gretchen Ackerman

Content Developer

DIRECTORS

Perry Busby

Lulu Friesdat

Lulu Friesdat

Journalist & Technology consultant

Lulu Friesdat

Lulu Friesdat

Lulu Friesdat

Co-founder of SMART Elections & 

Executive Director

Jim Soper

Lulu Friesdat

Jim Soper

Co-founder of SMART Elections & 

Senior Consultant

our philosophy

Advisory Team Members come from a variety of backgrounds and represent a diverse collection of viewpoints. Their membership does not represent an endorsement of the information offered by this organization. Nor does this project endorse any specific action or opinion of the advisory team members. We have come together with the belief that by attempting to listen and understand each others’ perspectives we can collectively work more effectively toward a goal that we all cherish – a more fair and effective democracy.

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