Doug Chapin is one of the nation's leading experts on election administration. At NCSL's 2012 Fall Forum, he spoke about issues that legislators need to address regarding voting technology.

Resources to run elections well are scarce, and no new federal money is on the horizon. Chapin counsels that new investments will need to respond to critical problems, such as equipment that will soon be outdated.

He says "the voting technology market is badly broken" in part because equipment vendors are stymied by problems with voluntary federal guidelines and voting system accreditation. He proposes states consider options that do not rely on federal standards for testing and certification.

He notes, too, that technology is improving elections in many ways, citing the use of electronic pollbooks as an example.

Doug Chapin is the director of the Program for Excellence in Election Administration. Chapin came to the Humphrey School after 10 years at The Pew Charitable Trusts, where he served as director of Election Initiatives for the Pew Center on the States.