Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 15:21:57 -0400
From: Dana Blankenhorn <danablankenhorn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [IP] Another look at voting machines
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Dave:
This one gets me angry.
What we have here is another straw man argument. Simson Garfinkel writes,
"there is a rising chorus of geeks...who say that one machine should never
be computerized: the voting machine."
I can't put this too plainly. THAT IS A LIE.
Those who criticize the Diebold machines (and other, similar systems) are
not saying, don't computerize. They are saying, computerize in a way that
can be audited.
The present Diebold system cannot be audited. It has no physical artifact
you can double-check. Thus, we don't know, and will never know, whether (for
instance) the 2002 elections in the state of Georgia were stolen or not.
Whatever you think of Democratic complaints in that area, the fact remains
that Republicans CANNOT PROVE THEY WERE NOT STOLEN! Because they lack a
physical artifact.
It would be easy to obtain.
A ribbon prints out two bar codes containing each vote. One copy stays in
the machine. One is given to the voter, who can check it with a reader, and
who then puts it into a box, as was done with punch cards. The other stays
in the machine. Checking the bar codes in the machine gets a "machine
recount." Opening the box and counting the bar codes there gives a "hand
recount."
And punch cards, hanging chads and all, are computer inputs.
Straw man articles like this are unfair to all sides. They don't allow the
advocates of the new voting machines to prove their thesis. They deny
critics a fair hearing.
All straw man arguments -- no matter where they come from, and no matter
what the issue -- deserve the strongest possible condemnation. Those who
make them need to be shamed into no longer making them, or, if they persist,
driven out of public life altogether by public opprobrium and rejection.
Dana Blankenhorn danablankenhorn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Progressive Strategies Business Strategy analyst
http://www.progstrat.com http://www.corante.com/mooreslore
Get A-Clue.Com Free http://www.a-clue.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Monday, September 08, 2003 3:07 PM
Subject: [IP] Another look at voting machines