By Robert F. Kennedy:
The debacle of the 2000 presidential election made it all too apparent to most Americans that our electoral system is broken. And private-sector entrepreneurs were quick to offer a fix: Touch-screen voting machines, promised the industry and its lobbyists, would make voting as easy and reliable as withdrawing cash from an ATM. Congress, always ready with funds for needy industries, swiftly authorized $3.9 billion to upgrade the nation's election systems - with much of the money devoted to installing electronic voting machines in each of America's 180,000 precincts.
But as midterm elections approach this November, electronic voting machines are making things worse instead of better. Studies have demonstrated that hackers can easily rig the technology to fix an election - and across the country this year, faulty equipment and lax security have repeatedly undermined election primaries.
5 comments:
Why not look more closely at the past elections using paper ballots? These ballots may have been on paper, but were counted by machine optical scan. Yes, you had an audit trail, but nobody bothered to audit this well trusted system.
I wish people would just stop the f*&^ing whining and get involved with their local elections office. This is the only way you can ensure that these systems are properly programmed, tested and audited. If you are shut out or denied this right, then go straight to the news papers.
I'd be interested in your reaction to this piece, Election Fraud: The Ultimate Nightmare
The politicos in Britain decided that to justify themselves, they would like a higher electoral turnout. (I know it sounds painful)
The answer, electronic voting.
I think it worked, there was a 105% in favour of the government.
What's wrong with a simple X counted by local people?
Okay i'm (just) slightly kidding, but it soon turned out to be fraudulent.
Simon.
Fraud, like any other crime, is intentional criminality. I don't know how you cope with that, because if you are not given to thinking and acting that way, it is hard to spot even after it has happened, and certainly not before.
I agree with those who say we should go back to paper ballots, with copies for the voters. But the voting process should go forward under the watchful eyes of people who are there to be watchful. Throwing boxes of marked ballots into trucks, where they can fall apart, and/or delivering them to the wrong central counting headquarters can also be problematical, and should be supervised at all times by armed guards.
One can't help but wonder if the American democracy is in danger? The sure sign of democracy is free and fair elections in a multi-party setting. Even if everything else is right, an inabilty to tally correct results should make whole excercise null and void. If an armpit of a nation like Democratic Republic of Gongo (no disrespect intended) can do it, to expect the same from the worlds only superpower and economic engine is surely not too much to ask.