California Association of Voting Officials, Latest to Join Open Source Initiative
PALO ALTO, Calif. — The Open Source Initiative ® (OSI), the premiere organization that promotes and protects open source, announced today that the California Association of Voting Officials (CAVO) has joined the OSI as an Affiliate Member. CAVO is dedicated to the development of open source voting systems for use in public elections, and provides training, education and management best practices to election officials for the effective employment of technologies. OSI Affiliate Members are organizations committed to public support for open source software and the role the OSI plays therein. The current Affiliate membership is a who’s-who in the world of open source software.
CAVO and OSI recognize that advances in open source development can provide citizens and governments the opportunity to ensure that everyone’s vote is counted accurately and securely without being held hostage to private vendors nor aging, outdated infrastructure. Innovation through open source development will provide communities the capacity and certainty to administer elections for this century and keep the promise of democracy, namely that your vote will always count.
“CAVO’s Affiliate Membership not only exemplifies the increasing awareness and adoption of open source software beyond the technology sector, but their work also highlights the alignment in values and benefits among community-based development projects in support of public services like voting,” said Patrick Masson, General Manager of the OSI. “CAVO, like the OSI and many of our other Affiliate Members, has worked with local and national government, advocating for open source software and practices. We’re very excited to learn from—and share—their experience and success with the broader open source community.”
One of the most important activities of the OSI is as an internationally recognized standards body, maintaining the Open Source Definition for the good of the community. The Open Source Initiative Approved License trademark and program creates a nexus of trust around which developers, users, corporations and governments can organize open source cooperation.
“We are excited to be an Affiliate Member with the Open Source Initiative. This relationship will be instrumental in our civil rights effort toward transparency in public elections,” said CAVO Secretary Brent Turner. CAVO President, Timothy B Mayer added, “The OSI provides a foundation to our election reform efforts. We proudly support them and are honored to be members.”
About The California Association of Voting Officials
Formed in December of 2013, the California Association of Voting Officials (CAVO) is a California nonprofit non-stock mutual benefit corporation designed to create new voting systems utilizing free open source software and inexpensive commodity components. CAVO’s scope includes technical support, professional development and advocacy for the effective employment of open source technologies and management practices. You can learn more about CAVO at: www.cavo-us.org/
About the Open Source Initiative
Founded in 1998, the Open Source Initiative protects and promotes open source by providing a foundation for community success. It champions open source in society through education, infrastructure and collaboration. The (OSI) is a California public benefit corporation, with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. For more information about the OSI, or to learn how to become an affiliate, please visit: http://opensource.org/
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