Thanks Daniel!
I shall have a look at your references.
As an outsider in an community (Australian) that has rejected a specific ID Card but which has a well organised Electoral Roll I simply thought it appropriate to use the concepting phase to spark debate on this within the challenge. However I find posting comments (blog style) too limiting for the purpose (hence the setting up of the Google document).

The report that Daniel links to above raises a number of issues at the heart of this challenge. How do we create an accessible and inclusive election experience while not sacrificing security or privacy/civil liberties? Especially interesting is the discussion of authentication vs. identification---how necessary is it that we know (and store) who the voter is, vs. simply assuring that each vote is securely and accurately counted?

Thanks for the reply Catherine. As a non-American it is difficult for me to justify expressing some opinions. It is the collision between security and privacy that sets up the tension in the process. The system needs to know who is entitled to vote and that they have voted only once but the individual requires the system respect the privacy of their actual vote. In that regard the current paper ballot based system used in most places works pretty well. - if you can be identified on a list of eligible voters either by giving your name and address (as happens in Australia) or presenting an acceptable form of ID then you are given a blank ballot, practically indistinguishable from every other ,that you can mark (in relative privacy) and place in a sealed container (with relative anonymity). Identification/verification must be linked to avoid multiple voting - I have about 10 polling places within 2 miles (5km) of my house, this is highly desirable from the point of view of accessibility but highly contentious if the system did not record the fact that I (the identifiable individual) have cast a vote and only one vote.
As to the separation between recognition of entitlement to vote and the private act of voting current at booth practices achieve this very well, the challenge is to acceptably achieve it in circumstances where voting is moved away from defined and controlled polling places, especially online.
While my thinking in drawing up this concept may have been muddled with regard to the variety of American elections I, personally, am still of the opinion that creation of a national voters roll (database), by amalgamating and rationalising the county,state or other voting rolls that already exist would add flexibility and increase accessibility to the voting process.
Whether people think a National Voting ID Card is a good idea will depend in part on ideology (including the civil liberties question) and in part on practicality. I, like the majority of Australians, ideologically rejected the Australia Card (National ID Card) but have since realised its practicality compared to the alternatives now in use here. America too seems to have rejected a National ID for the time being but other countries, Morocco, Spain, Sweden, India (to list a few I know of through this challenge), have embraced or are embracing one.

To return to my original thinking about this concept I am simply posing the question - would having a national roll or a national id card (for voting purposes) increase voter choice of polling places and therefore improve accessibility for all )including those with disabilities)?

Paul, Excellent analysis of the tension between needing to be able to identify the voter, but keep the vote secret.

You are right that there is not a national ID card in the US. That's not something we can change through design, whatever the pros and cons. As I started looking into this, I was very surprised to find out how many people don't have one of the types of ID that are often a stand-in, such as a driver's license.

You are also right that a voter registration system that was more centralized would offer more choice of polling place. It requires not only a computerized database, but a way for all polling places to have up-to-date records during the election day (or week). Some of these systems are already online, and more are in progress.

The good news is that there is only one registration system for all levels of government, and that voters only have to register once, only updating if their residence changes.

How does Election Day Registration fit into your thinking? In some states, a person can register at the polling place, on election day.

And one state - North Dakota - does not require registration at all http://www.nd.gov/sos/electvote/voting/voter-qualifi.html

Thanks for this reply Vicenç.
Can I please ask you a couple of questions about Spain - is voting compulsory? and is where you vote determined by where you live (i.e. do candidates represent particular geographic areas)?

Hi Paul,
I'm more than glad to help.
In Spain is not mandatory to vote. In fact some ballots have a low participation rate (below 70% and sometimes lower).
Regarding geographic distribution. The general election is the same everywhere (the same candidate for all country) but in Spain our representative law is not directly proportional, I mean, depending where you are voting your vote has a different weight ( rural zones have a more representative vote as we apply the "D'Hont" system. Additionally, every region has its own election for regional representatives, these regions are weaker than Estates, but have their own competences (Health or Education among others).
I hope it helps, whatever you need don't hesitate to ask :)

Thanks Meena - I'm struggling with some strange behaviour in publishing concepts that I think must be related to my slow dial-up internet access. The link was structured as active when I published - I will have another go.

Hey Paul, just to jump in – if you're having trouble publishing, would you mind submitting a ticket via the Support tab at the left? We're trying to track down some publishing-related bugs and any details you can share on the errors you're seeing would be helpful. Thanks!

Thanks Ashley - done.

Thanks for the positive feedback Vincent. The concept is (as you suggest) a vehicle for exploring voter identification and may well morph considerably as the concepting phase progresses. It had its genesis in the relatively stable electoral roll (here in Australia) and the example Sarah gave of using just a national ID in Morroco.
Thanks too for the alternative approach to the issue and am considering the possibility of additional concepts.

Thanks Qiu - yes your comments are visible and apt.
Your comments here are welcome too - I have usually found here that I have sufficient notice of closing of the roll to be certain I am properly registered, but I can understand regular mobility makes it difficult.
Your point about 'too many IDs' is well made - personally I'm not wedded to any sort of ID card but I thought there should be opportunity to discuss it.