(cont.) of trust in the institutions responsible for the resolution of disputes. In California in particular, the Secretary of State (SoS) is considered to be open to discussion and debate regarding e-voting, and campaigned on these issues while running for office. Following the 2000 election, the federal government passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which requires that each state review the voting technologies in use to ensure that some basic criteria are met (such as the ability of the voter to cast a blank or writein ballot, accessibility for disabled voters, and that the technology notifies the voter if they have over-voted). While state legislation must be in line with HAVA, the details of implementation were left to the discretion of the state, so there are wide variations in practice among the 50 states. A number of technologies produced by a number of suppliers are used by California’s voters, including optical scan devices, auto-marking devices and direct recording equipment (DRE) or touch screen machines. All the technologies in use have a paper-based component, which is essential to transparency in the process as well as effective and meaningful dispute resolution. In California, DRE units must produce a voter-verifiable paper audit trail and, where budgets permit, every polling place must have one DRE to facilitate voting by disabled persons. The SoS is the Chief Electoral Officer in the state of California. The SoS is responsible for ensuring that elections are conducted in accordance with the Electoral Code. The SoS is required to establish and maintain administrative complaints procedures in accordance with HAVA. The SoS is also responsible for certifying electronic voting systems that can be used by the counties. No devices may be purchased or used prior to approval by the SoS. S/he may adopt regulations regarding the source code, firmware, software and hardware of the electronic voting machines and devices. Importantly, s/he is also empowered to seek injunctive or administrative relief, such as monetary damages, or decertification of the technology in cases of unauthorized changes to the hardware, software or firmware of the voting machines once they have been conditionally certified by the SoS. S/he may also withdraw approval of technology previously approved. The EDR mechanism in California, which includes e-voting-related disputes, is as follows. Administrative complaints The SoS must ensure that there are procedures in place for administrative complaints to be filed. Any person who is resident in the state of California may file a complaint if they think there has been a violation, is a violation or will be a violation of Title III of HAVA, for example, with regard to accessibility of the voting process for disabled voters. The complaint must be in writing, notarized and signed and sworn by the complainant on a form created by the SoS which is accessible to disabled voters and to voters using minority languages. The complaint must then be submitted to the SoS within 60 days of the occurrence or within 90 days of the complainant becoming aware of the occurrence. 168