During a media briefing on May 8, Indiana's Secretary of State, announced an agreement that the university's Bowen Center for Public Affairs will administer the Voting Systems Technical Oversight Program (VSTOP) for the state of Indiana.

Ball State will use an initial $162,000 grant from the Indiana Secretary of State's office to assist the Indiana Election Commission and Indiana counties with technology issues related to electronic voting systems and evaluate the training of poll workers.

Following the 2000 presidential election states were mandated by the Federal Election Commission to examine their voting mechanisms and put together a plan for improving them.

Under Ball State's proposal, the Office of Indiana Voting Systems will be established, bringing together a team with expertise in elections, computer systems and training.

The project, which is expected to last a year, has three main areas of investigation and recommendation. First, the faculty team, led by Jay Bagga, a computer science professor, will work with county clerks in each of Indiana's 92 counties to create an inventory of voting systems.

The information will be put into a shared database, providing state officials with a clear overview of the various machines used across the state.

For more details, see Ball State's press release, the Secretary of State's press release, and an article in Inside Indiana Business