[IP] more on THROW YOUR VOTE AWAY, REDUX.
Begin forwarded message:
From: ritholtz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: May 9, 2004 9:06:18 AM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Cc: gep2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, ElectionProtection@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
dallasdemocrats@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [IP] Fwd: THROW YOUR VOTE AWAY, REDUX.
Exactly -- I didn't even address the point of vote buying (too
obvious). My issues are simple: making sure my vote is cast correctly,
and making sure it is COUNTED correctly.
I cannot count how many times my fat thumbs have selected the wrong
option on Citibank's touchscreen ATMs. (no, I do not want an account
balance!). That's a concern with touchscreens. Especially for the
elderly, or for the computer phobic.
The paper trail issue is a farce -- there are simply no legitimate
technical, logistical, mechanical or budgetary reasons for not allowing
an e-voter to know for certain his vote was cast correctly via a
receipt. It is simply inexcusable for there not to be a verifiable
paper trail, in the event of a recount or other problem.
I lived in Glen Cove NY a few years ago. During an interim election for
a seat in the city council last Fall, the final vote was exactly dead
even --3304-3304. The law mandates a recount. What happens in this
event with no paper trail?
You can see the details here:
http://www.longislandpress.com/v01/i48031211/news_04.asp -- the final
result looks to be the result of a defective absentee ballot.
Regardless, I cannot believe that we are actually discussing a
verifiable vote and audit system. That should be the threshold for a
voting system, not the penultimate goal. We should be focusing on
improving voter turnout and participation, making government more
transparent, putting more of the process online where it would be
visible to the electorate. Its a national embarrassment -- unless you
live in a banana republic.
Talk about low expectations . . .
Barry L. Ritholtz
Market Strategist
Maxim Group
britholtz@xxxxxxxxxxxx
(212) 895-3614
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----- Original Message -----
From: gep2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sunday, May 9, 2004 2:44 am
Subject: [IP] Fwd: THROW YOUR VOTE AWAY, REDUX.
This is missing the point, Dave.
I don't think that anyone is seriously proposing that the voter
LEAVE THE
POLLING PLACE with their vote printed on a piece of paper... for
exactly the
reasons you're all talking about.
We obviously don't want people "in authority" over the voter
seeing how they
voted.
Likewise we don't want those voting to be able to present printed
"proof" of how
they voted (which would encourage vote buying or selling).
The point of getting a paper copy of the ballot produced is for
two purposes:
1) So the voter can verify that their vote was registered
exactly as they
tried to cast it;
and
2) So there is a hardcopy paper ballot that could be used in a
recount, or as
an audit trail to verify the integrity of the voting and counting
system.
The paper copy, after being verified by the voter, would go into
the urn at the
polling place from which it would be sent to the county registrar
as an official
election record, to be retained for the legally specified period
of time.
What my PERSONAL feeling is for what I'd like to see done would be
to have the
touch-screen machines produce a printed paper copy of the ballot
(that wouldn't
be like a cash-register-receipt, but...) which could then be
inserted into the
existing (here in Dallas, anyhow) optical scanning system.
That way, there would be the total from the touchscreen system,
the total from
the optical scanning system, AND the printed paper ballot... with
votes that
they user had confirmed before leaving the polling place... and
they all
(obviously) should agree exactly at the end of the election day.
There would seem to be little value in having the voters leave
with the paper
copy of their choices, not only due to the privacy/anonymity
issue, but ALSO
because those printed copies will start becoming damaged or lost
as soon as they
leave the polling place... no conceivable recounting scenario
could ever hope to
bring them all back together again.
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