I know the DOJ and other groups can watch for shenanigans at polling places, but what about afterwards when the votes are collected from all over the state? Is there anybody making sure nobody simply changes numbers in a spreadsheet?
It's depressing that Obama probably has to over-perform in Ohio and Florida to make sure he actually wins. If it's too close, it wouldn't be hard to push it to Romney.
Don't forget that different states have different laws.
Apparently in NY you can't even wear a button or shirt supporting a candidate because that is passive electioneering. If you go to a polling site they will ask you to remove it.
If you are a girl, wear an Obama shirt and Obama body paint. That way when they ask you to remove the shirt, you cannot remove the skin. There is no way this could possibly go wrong.
So when I went to vote this morning, I got to strut in, zip past the long-ass city line that stretched out the door with a two-to-three-hour wait, waltz to the front, tap-a-tap-a-tap-a on the screen, and leave.
Oh. Electronic voting? Congrats, you just voted for Romney.
So when I went to vote this morning, I got to strut in, zip past the long-ass city line that stretched out the door with a two-to-three-hour wait, waltz to the front, tap-a-tap-a-tap-a on the screen, and leave.
Oh. Electronic voting? Congrats, you just voted for Romney.
Hey man, don't worry about it. Only poor people want to steal elections. Experimental software patches on electronic voting machines with no paper trail is fine. Don't be a conspiracy theorist.
I'm glad that, at least where I live in MA (and I think all of MA), we basically use scantron voting machines. Paper ballots with electronic readers/tabulators, so that if there's any fishiness with the electronic gadgets, there is at least the paper ballot to fall back on.
There is no sane reason to not at least have a paper ballot backup for any kind of voting.
Cremlian, I really wish your Ron Paul loving lifeguard kid friend hadn't blocked all of us. I really want to know how he's handling his messiah not even being a part of the picture anymore. He was so sure that the electorate would rise up and
There is no sane reason to not at least have a paper ballot backup for any kind of voting.
Sure there is. Election tampering. That's the only sane reason.
Umm, I think you missed a few words that I said. I said that there was no sane reason to not have paper ballot backup. I definitely think that all voting should be conducted with some sort of paper trail -- whether it's just going with a regular ol' paper ballot with electronic tabulation to speed up the tabulation process (which is probably the simplest and most reliable method, IMHO) or with having e-voting machines print out a paper receipt that the voter verifies as matching his/her selections before depositing the receipt in a ballot box to provide vote verification if necessary.
I didn't miss anything. The only sane reason not to have a paper trail is that you want to tamper with elections.
Okay, we have a different definition of "sane" in this case, as I don't consider "pathologically evil" to be "sane."
Also, I did interpret your quote (rightly or wrongly) as meaning "Avoiding election tampering is a sane reason to have paper ballots." That's a statement with which we both agree.
Comments
http://www.salon.com/2012/11/05/ohio_republicans_sneak_risky_software_onto_voting_machines/
Fox News: Oh no, a black guy, run
There is no sane reason to not at least have a paper ballot backup for any kind of voting.
Seriously, it would be the best tears.
Also, I did interpret your quote (rightly or wrongly) as meaning "Avoiding election tampering is a sane reason to have paper ballots." That's a statement with which we both agree.
Yeah, I can see how that might have been misconstrued.