The case of the paranoid Boxer

OC Register ^ | 1/9/04 | Carol Platt Liebau

[NormsRevenge]

Much has been written over the past month about the phenomenon of an increasing number of prominent Democrats marching in lockstep into the fever swamps of paranoia.

Most memorably, Howard Dean has referenced an "interesting" theory that the president of the United States was warned in advance by the Saudis about the Sept. 11 attacks.

[NormsRevenge]

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[HitmanLV]

What I find remarkable about this kind of thinking is that it necessitates the belief that in elections that dems win, the voting is on the up-and-up, but when Republicans win, somehow that suggests some chicanery.

Ther leftists sure do have an odd mindset and world view.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

...Does she really believe that the danger of widespread and systemic vote-tampering that she invokes is likely?...

Of course she does. Dems have been doing it for years.

[talleyman]

"Whatever the DemoRats accuse you of, that's what they're doing."

[ArmstedFragg]

There's an easy solution, Barb.

There's this proven system that creates a permanent record of how everybody voted. The counts are almost always right on the nose, and if there's any question it's easy to recount by hand.

All it requires is that your constituents be intelligent enough to push a stylus through a pre-scored piece of cardboard.

What?

Oh....

Never mind.

[dvwjr]

I agree that a paper backup which is printed and only viewable by the voter before it is automatically deposited in a box is fine. A 'receipt', never. If the voter has a printed 'receipt' then we are back to the days of party bosses and precinct captains demanding said 'receipt' as proof of your loyalty or for proof for payoff. Or in a close election some nimrod will demand that all the 'receipts' that went home in the voter's pockets be rounded up and counted again...


dvwjr

[ArmstedFragg]

Boxer's bill would provide federal (read: taxpayer) money to ensure that states' electronic voting equipment provides receipts to voters.

Does it occur to her that all a receipt would prove is that the machine printed the receipt correctly? It provides exactly no information on how the vote was recorded. Anybody bright enough to hack software is bright enough to print something different from what's recorded.

Typical Demo solution, let's pass a law making it illegal to do things that are illegal on the assumption that lawbreakers will obey the new law.

[TheSarce]

Electronic voting ping.

[expatpat]

The said constituents are getting a bum rap. The double-punched cards were produced by a Democrap operative running a rod through the Gore chad on a whole stack of cards. That's why they were so angry when Bush won anyway, after all their wide-scale cheating.

[zbigreddogz]

This is too funny. Wern't these people just asking that the Recall be posponed to get these "Fair, accurate" machines in place first?

[mvpel]

The fact is also that there are some serious, serious problems with the design of the electronic voting software that has been leaked to the public.

As much as I dislike Boxer and her cynical focus on voting receipts instead of voter identification and validation, she is simply joining a growing chorus of critics of electronic voting systems.

[tubebender]

Have you seen this post... vote fraud ?

[expatpat]

Thanks for the link.

[ArmstedFragg]

Therefore, IMHO, Boxer is right to want a backup way of verifying that all votes are tabulated accurately.

The problem is that printing a receipt doesn't accomplish that.

You would either have to cross-reference the receipt with a specific machine tabulated vote, thereby eliminating the concept of an anonymous ballot, or you'd have to have everyone who voted bring their receipts in for comparison. Both approaches have obvious flaws.

That was the joy of punch-cards, you could machine count 'em, then hand count 'em if necessary. As long as you safeguarded both the raw and punched cards and accounted for them they were darn near fraud-proof.

The only similar solution for the machines is a full and complete testing prior to the vote, then physically sealing each machine in some way. The backup would have to be something like a receipt number plus a pin number which would permit the individual voter to check his/her vote in the final computation. And even that wouldn't be fraud proof.

Ultimately, both sides have to agree on a standard and stick to it. We were close to having one until that "consultant" came up with his "flex the punch cards" trick during the mid-nineties L.A. city council election, then sold his services in Florida.

[ozzymandus]

Molly Ivens also suggested that the machines would be rigged since the owner of the company was a Bush supporter. This kind of lying innuendo by the criminal party makes me sick. Their MO is to accuse the Republicans of commiting the crimes that they are actually commiting themselves. You know damn well the RATs have stolen elections all over the country in the last few years.

[xm177e2]

I'm not a wacko paranoid, and I don't like electronic voting one bit. I'd like for every vote to be contained in a distinct, durable physical object, and have those objects be counted to determine the tally.

[leadpenny]

Maybe Mary Francis Berry could hold a hearing. Haven't heard much from her lately.