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gull
The Fall 2003 Electronic Voting Item Mark Unseen   Dec 16 14:52 UTC 2003

This item is for news and discussion relating to electronic voting systems.
54 responses total.
gull
response 1 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 16 14:53 UTC 2003

More stuff from the memos obtained from Diebold is coming out...firstly,
an email suggesting they should gouge Maryland if the state asks to have
printers added to their voting machines:

"There is an important point that seems to be missed by all these
articles: they already bought the system. At this point they are just
closing the barn door. Let's just hope that as a company we are smart
enough to charge out the yin if they try to change the rules now and
legislate voter receipts."
(http://www.gazette.net/200350/montgomerycty/state/191617-1.html)


Another email, this one from Sue Page, one of Maryland's project
managers, criticizes State Board of Elections Administrator Linda H.
Lamone, and suggests, "There's not much that we can do, other than hope
that a new Republican Governor will effect change."  This hints more
subtly at the same kind of partisan bias that Diebold CEO Wally O'Dell
exhibited when he said he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its
electoral votes to the President next year."
(http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/news/stories/20030827/localnews/14087
1.htm
l)


In my more pessimistic moments, I wonder if we'll ever have a fair
election in this country again.  Maybe "the fix is in" already for 2004.
gull
response 2 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 16 14:54 UTC 2003

Here's an unwrapped version of the Port Clinton News-Herald URL:
http://tinyurl.com/ldtj
polygon
response 3 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 16 15:07 UTC 2003

"Voter receipts" are a very bad idea, if that means a piece of paper the
voter takes home, listing everybody they voted for.  It would make vote
selling possible again.

Rather, the count should be based on voter-verified tangible ballots, as
is done with optical scan devices.

I don't like the touch-screen interface, at all, but touch screen machines
could output a scannable ballot that the voter could look at to verify,
and then drop in the ballot box. 

That might seem like an elaborate way to mark ballots, but on the other
hand, at least in theory, there would be zero ambiguous ballots.
gull
response 4 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 16 15:40 UTC 2003

The proposed Maryland rule is that the receipt, after being examined by
the voter, would be placed in a locked ballot box.  A randomly selected
2% of the precincts would then have their results verified by counting
the paper ballots.

A major reason touchscreen-type systems are being pushed over other
systems is a computerized system is the only reasonable way to meet some
upcoming requirements for disabled people to be able to vote unassisted.
 Currently the secret ballot really doesn't exist for people who are
blind, for example.
jp2
response 5 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 16 18:21 UTC 2003

This response has been erased.

flem
response 6 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 16 18:46 UTC 2003

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/12/11/1620228&mode=thread&tid=103
&tid=
126&tid=99

If there's a single government agency that I think might have a clue
about electronic voting, it's the Nevada State Gaming Control Board.  
rcurl
response 7 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 16 19:51 UTC 2003

Re #5: you are incorrect. The secret ballot in elections is established
in the laws of the states.  
jep
response 8 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 16 20:05 UTC 2003

re resp:1: I think what I'm seeing is a guaranteed complaint about any 
election in the future: "We should have won.  The vote was fixed by 
computer!"  This type of complaint is going to be used by both sides.  

On Grex, I've seen the pre-complaint 3 or 4 times, always stating the 
Republican side will abuse the system and unfairly take elections.  It 
seems obvious to me that there will be complaints along these lines if 
Republicans win *any* elections.  I don't imagine, giving that tone 
already, that there will be much real discussion about 2004 election 
results or methods on Grex.
jp2
response 9 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 16 20:12 UTC 2003

This response has been erased.

rcurl
response 10 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 16 20:48 UTC 2003

It certainly does! And the "secret ballot" is not "poor policy", in my
opinion. Laws give us (and take away) "rights". How else can rights
be established? 
jp2
response 11 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 16 21:04 UTC 2003

This response has been erased.

rcurl
response 12 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 16 21:08 UTC 2003

Somebody made it up. They were people that wanted certain rights, and they
said so in word and deed. That's how they got the rights they wanted.
jp2
response 13 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 16 21:10 UTC 2003

This response has been erased.

rcurl
response 14 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 16 21:39 UTC 2003

Of course not. Who said anything about "mistakes"? The Supreme Court
established a right that was previously unsettled. How about not putting
words in other people's mouths? 
willcome
response 15 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 16 23:20 UTC 2003

How about not putting babies in garbage cans?
tod
response 16 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 16 23:29 UTC 2003

This response has been erased.

jp2
response 17 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 16 23:45 UTC 2003

This response has been erased.

rcurl
response 18 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 17 02:51 UTC 2003

Why not? The Constitution gives the Court that power. You apparently do
not know that everything that is and will be possible is not mentioned
in the Constitution. Hence only the guidelines and principles of the
Constitution are there to guide the Court in resolving new questions.
That is what they did.

You sure make yourself sound stupid with insisting that you "win" in
every response. 
jp2
response 19 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 17 03:12 UTC 2003

This response has been erased.

willcome
response 20 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 17 03:49 UTC 2003

(trolls)
gull
response 21 of 54: Mark Unseen   Dec 17 14:29 UTC 2003

Re resp:8: Well, when the major electronic voting machine companies are
controlled by Republican partisans, and people in high positions in
those companies talk about hoping to deliver a victory to the Republican
candidate, don't people have a right to be suspicious?  Espcially
considering those companies have repeatedly refused to let anyone
examine their source code or test their machines?

How would you feel if the situation were reversed, and Democrats were
controlling the voting systems and refusing to let anyone else see how
they were run?
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