Alameda County, Calif., Successfully Uses RFID Technology to Secure Voting Process

On November 6, Alameda County, Calif., did what had never been done before in the United States: it successfully used Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to secure the chain of custody for its election process. This was a bold move, given the recent controversy in California around RFID technology, but a move that officials are glad they made. Dave Macdonald, Director of Information Technology and Registrar of Voters in Alameda County has proven the theory that the same electronic methods which enable supply chain efficiency can secure the chain of custody in polling (and, improve the logistics). RFID Global Solution (RFIDGS) has been contracted by Alameda County to create a logistics management solution to track and secure the county's voting equipment during the election. RFIDGS has named this first-of-its-kind system SecureVote.

The November 6 polling in Alameda County proved to be unqualified successes. "I had high expectations and this exceeded them," Macdonald explained. "In 2008, California has three major elections, which hasn't happened since 1948, and the security requirements are tougher than they have ever been in history." Alameda County will contract RFIDGS to scale the system up 1000% before the February presidential primary, which includes 825 precincts and 27 return centers.