Posted on 04/07/2008 7:37:58 AM PDT by lifelong_republican
"The costs are staggering."
(Excerpt) Read more at theinquirer.net ...
a Simple solution...
We already have the system in place.
Would require no hardware.
Only a minor software program.
Use ATM’s as voting machines. They are everywhere, they are secure, they naturally verify your identity, they are handicapped accessible. The information would be instantly tablulated.
That’s the most ingenious idea I’ve seen in a while now. Thank you.
That’s an interesting idea, but it’d require sufficient auditing to be trustable, as they’re not invulnerable.
http://www.celent.com/PressReleases/20040712/ATM.htm
The best way to go has always been a ballot on one sheet of heavy paper that can be machine collated scanned and tallied
There's the Achilles Heel in your plan. Any plan that makes results instantly available makes padding the vote count impossible. Thus democrats will oppose it.
You’re absolutely right about a tangible physical ballot. The ballots should be hand-counted in public view, though, with opscans only for preliminary tabulations since the opscan equipment can be manipulated.
I think you are right.
I have been a huge fan of the touch screens but too many people just don’t have confidence in them. If the optical scanners are cheaper, we might as well go back to them for that reason too.
Here’s how stupid the preliminary runs (past 2 elections) have been in my precinct (touch-screen optional for those who want to be venturesome and try it:
An attendant watches you vote, in case you have any questions. I felt as if I were being violated. I know they meant well, as they saw my grey hair (what there is of it) and probably assumed I’d be one of those oldsters who are intimidated by technology. But I resented it just the same, despite their probable good intentions.
All this because Florida wouldn’t upgrade their voting equipment to 1970’s-era technology (optical scanners).
The most reliable ar the optical scanners with little boxes you fill in.
The touch screens are a $15,000 soltion for a $.25 problem.
That is what we have here in Dallas and it works great with few to no complaints.
Of course they would. But anything that doesnt allow them to cheat they would oppose. It doesnt mean the idea does not have merit.
You make an excellent point. The same exact thing happened at the polls here. The election judge and the ‘technician’ walked back and forth behind all the voters, looking at their screens.
The opscans are problematic, too, as they can be subjected to undetectable tampering.
You make a great point about the huge expense for the small problem, certainly. Opscans could be used for rapid but preliminary tallies, but since they can be rigged, the final counts should be done by hand under public observation.
actually, because heavily democrat districts used a punch card system that was condusive to fraud via prepunched and physical manipulaiton.
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