CSE and local community turn out for Science on Screen movie and lecture

On the cold winter night of Wednesday, January 25, the U-M CSE and local Ann Arbor communities turned out for a special Science on Screen event at downtown Ann Arbor’s Michigan Theater.

The event featured a screening of the documentary I Voted?, followed by a lecture by Prof. J. Alex Halderman on security risks in America’s election system and his analysis of the results from the 2016 presidential election recounts, which he helped to organize. Both the film and the lecture had a clear impact on the audience, inspiring urgent buzzes of conversation after each.

Students associated with the division’s CSE graduate program and with its CS, CE, and DS undergraduate programs were able to attend the event for a discount with a voucher from CSE. Many turned out, along with faculty, staff, and hundreds more from the local community.

I Voted? is a documentary made by independent filmmaker Jason Grant Smith. It was originally screened at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. As the film opens, an unknown South Carolina candidate has inexplicably won his U.S. Senate primary in a landslide, despite never having campaigned. Smith sets out on a personal odyssey to expose the loopholes and pitfalls of our electoral system. On the way, he opens a Pandora’s box of questions about America’s voting process. The film highlights the work of noted computer scientists who are working in the area of election integrity, including Prof. Halderman.

The Coolidge Corner Theatre’s Science on Screen initiative creatively pairs screenings of classic, cult, and documentary films with lively introductions by notable figures from the world of science, technology, and medicine. Major funding for the series is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. CSE provided additional support for the Jan. 25 screening.