Give us paper ballots

New York Daily News ^ | 04/21/04 | Zev Chafets

[crusty codger]

On Monday, John Kerry visited Palm Beach, Fla. - the scene of the crime, as far as Democrats are concerned - and issued a stern warning. "We will challenge any place in America where you cannot trace the vote and count the votes of Americans," he said. The challenge Kerry has in mind is a legal one. He already is raising a flying squad of lawyers to fight election results Democrats regard as suspicious. In the present climate, that means every close contest they don't win.

The Republicans have lawyers, too. They will respond in kind, challenging tight Democratic victories everywhere.

This is a recipe for disaster. Polls suggest there will be evenly fought contests all over the country. If they all turn into bitter lawsuits, the system crashes.

[crusty codger]

Remember 2000? 2004 is going to be worse MUCH worse!

[areafiftyone]

This sucks. I hated the 2000 election and I am going to hate this one too. I am sick of the dems thinking that we are going to steal the election. They are the most paranoid hateful group of people in the U.S.

[the Real fifi]

After all--like Shrum's floppo populism--Gore's post-election tactics worked so well, why not copy it.

[theDentist]

There were at least 2 books written about the 2000 election; one from the Right, and one from the Left.
Long day, and I cannot remember the titles of either, but I have both books, and I recommend we all read them this summer in anticipation of the autumnal election frolics.

[EllaMinnow]

A good one from the right is "At Any Cost: How Al Gore Tried to Steal the Election" by Bill Sammon.

[xzins]

I agree with paper ballots.

[DBrow]

And Hillary wants reciepts- and so do union organizers and those who buy votes. now the payoff can be in return for the reciept after the vote, instead of a sawski beforehand and never knowing if the mark voted "right".

2004 is gonna be a nightmare!

[Doctor Stochastic]

I agree with paper ballots.

So to the Democrats. They are really afraid of computer ballots. Check the newsgroup comp.risks for comments.

[cripplecreek]

Make mine paper.

[Chewbacca]

Weren't the Dems the ones pushing for the electronic ballots and online voting back in 2000?

[freeeee]

I don't have a problem with touch screen voting, but I want a printed receipt of my choices, and one to be kept by the machine for auditing purposes.

We could find this technology in this new fangled device called the "cash register".

[Dan from Michigan]

I support paper ballots - scantron should be the standard - either draw an arrow or fill in the circle(like a multiple choice test).

Straightforward, harder to fraud than punchcards, and while not fullproof, the best one possible.

[theDentist]

Yes! That's the one I purchased first. Reading that made my blood boil.

[xzins]

I've called for paper ballots for years and have voted Republican all those years.

Dems do not own all the paper companies.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Could I recommend a simple hybrid solution? The voter inserts his paper ballot into the voting maching and casts his ballot electronically, like at an ATM. The machine marks the paper ballot accordingly and returns it to the voter. The voter can review the paper ballot and cast it, or request another ballot if he determined that it does not reflect his intentions.

The computer marked ballots would be free of over-votes, hanging chads or any other nonsense.

[McGavin999]

The only solution to this is an overwhelming victory. The most important thing in this election is to get all the people who assume someone else will make a wise choice for them to actually get out and vote. That means all the people who are so immersed in their work they "can't" take the time to vote. If they don't take the time, we are going to be saddled with this nonesense for years to come.

[Fast Ed97]

They love paper ballots because they are easily tampered with- especially with a stack and a long needle- Read John Lott of American Enterprise research on Black Republicans who had a disproportionate amount of "over-votes" in the 2000 Florida Presidential election.

[crusty codger]

There are so many ways to cheat that I find it amazing that they "IE the D's" are trying to take us back to the easiest way for them to cheat! Yes, they wanted computer ballots but then realized that the Company's that bid on the job were not Liberal owned, so they start with the fix idea.

This is going to get really Ugly.

[upchuck]

How ya gonna verify with shenanigans like this^ going on?

The Nov, 2004 election may well spill over into 2005 because of this.

I love technology. There's an intrinsic thrill in using "bleeding edge" technology. But you don't turn bleeding technology into the wild. That's exactly what is happening here. We're about 4 years ahead of the curve and it's gonna be messy!

[crusty codger]

Your this is scary! Maybe we should set up a bipartisan election committee to make recommendations. (lol)