Waste of time, waste of angst,

[Ishmael]

and a waste of money.

States have abandoned electronic voting machines in droves, ensuring that most voters will be casting their ballots by hand on Election Day.

With many electronic voting machines more than a decade old, and states lacking the funding to repair or replace them, officials have opted to return to the pencil-and-paper voting that the new technology was supposed to replace.

Full Story

"Yes Virginia, the federal government handed out billions of dollars to the states so they could buy voting machines they couldn't afford to repair or replace." Just like the "million cop" fiasco, and so many more like it. Anyone want to guess what's going to happen when the federal subsidies for the "ShuckNJiveCare" medicare/medicaid 'baitNswitch' offered to the states runs out?

Paper ballots are just fine by me.

Ishmael

 

[ms_ann_thrope]

It's always been paper here.

 

[PayDay]

My votes are made onto a credit card. I have always liked paper. The thing I liked about that article is that most electric voting has a paper trail.

So where's the officiated results from the 2012 presidential election? They were handed in by the states to the FeD the same day as Sandy Hook.

 

[Learnsmith]

and a waste of money.



Full Story

"Yes Virginia, the federal government handed out billions of dollars to the states so they could buy voting machines they couldn't afford to repair or replace." Just like the "million cop" fiasco, and so many more like it. Anyone want to guess what's going to happen when the federal subsidies for the "ShuckNJiveCare" medicare/medicaid 'baitNswitch' offered to the states runs out?

Paper ballots are just fine by me.

Ishmael

On this we agree. Too easy to game. I want as few links between myself and my actual vote as possible. In Washington I have easy access to early absentee voting, but the ballots are still filled out by hand, and the envelopes double-sealed, then signed. Works very well, and I can also afford to look up local candidate's information in real-time. My wife and I sit and work through our ballots over dinner, and I feel confident that my vote is protected.

 

[unregistered]

 

[PayDay]

I think we ought to go back to paper ballots and special markers. Course the lame stream media has gotten used to fucking it all up by calling the election before the polls close in California.

Agreed. It's been electronic for me since I turned 18. My dad used to take me into the booth when I was a kid, all paper. When he handed in his ballot, he knew for sure what he voted for.

It would be nice to only rely on the honesty of the election officials.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

So the same deniers who dispute the climate models hate electronic voting machines.





Might as well throw your wooden shoes at the looms...

 

[PayDay]

So the same deniers who dispute the climate models hate electronic voting machines.





Might as well throw your wooden shoes at the looms...

Only the person voting can be fraudulent if the ballots are paper.

Why did they jump to all electric machines with electronic ballots when they could have made an electronic machine that punches out the chads for you?

Hmm?

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

Because Science and Technology is scary stuff to conservatives.

They like Bibles where they can flip the pages...



:sarcasm:



Democrats are comfortable with invisible processes, because they so often seem to magically charged in their favor.

 

[Ishmael]

Only the person voting can be fraudulent if the ballots are paper.

Why did they jump to all electric machines with electronic ballots when they could have made an electronic machine that punches out the chads for you?

Hmm?

Because the Federal government made billions of dollars available to the states to purchase said machines. Machines the states can no longer afford to service or replace. Like so many other Federal programs it was a front end loaded payola scheme that the states jumped on without consideration for the long term consequences. Perhaps the states thought that this program would become a never ending source of 'state welfare.' They, the states, keep buying into these ill considered programs with the inevitable results being an unsustainable financial burden on those states that bite the bait.

The notable recent exceptions to that phenomena are those states that refused to buy into the Obama "ShuckNJiveCare" medicare/medicaid payola scheme.

Ishmael

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

Same reason they got all that scary-looking military hardware that caused the Ferguson riots...

 

[Ishmael]

Same reason they got all that scary-looking military hardware that caused the Ferguson riots...

Or the "Million Cop" scheme that has subsequently turned into the "Million Former Cop" scheme.

Ishmael

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

The new and improve MediCare...

 

[PayDay]

Because the Federal government made billions of dollars available to the states to purchase said machines. Machines the states can no longer afford to service or replace. Like so many other Federal programs it was a front end loaded payola scheme that the states jumped on without consideration for the long term consequences. Perhaps the states thought that this program would become a never ending source of 'state welfare.' They, the states, keep buying into these ill considered programs with the inevitable results being an unsustainable financial burden on those states that bite the bait.

The notable recent exceptions to that phenomena are those states that refused to buy into the Obama "ShuckNJiveCare" medicare/medicaid payola scheme.

Ishmael

Not what I'm asking. Why did they choose that specific style of machine with a paperless ballot.

 

[Ishmael]

Not what I'm asking. Why did they choose that specific style of machine with a paperless ballot.

There is no single system that was purchased by all the states. Many states/precincts opted for the optical reader systems that do have a paper audit trail. So to answer your question fully you have to go state by state and precinct by precinct.

Ishmael

 

[PayDay]

There is no single system that was purchased by all the states. Many states/precincts opted for the optical reader systems that do have a paper audit trail. So to answer your question fully you have to go state by state and precinct by precinct.

Ishmael

Yup. I would like to know where the paper trails mentioned in the article are stored, as well.

 

[about_average]

The thing I liked about that article is that most electric voting has a paper trail.

How many of that 60% are places where the voter approves the paper trail for their vote, vs being invisible to the voter?

 

[RobDownSouth]

So the same deniers who dispute the climate models hate electronic voting machines.





Might as well throw your wooden shoes at the looms...

http://i.imgur.com/sG1CvKu.png

 

[PayDay]

How many of that 60% are places where the voter approves the paper trail for their vote, vs being invisible to the voter?

Good call. I know mine is 100% invisible once it hits that magnetic card. I'd like to go back through the supposed paper trail to check.

Maybe then I could figure out how my town with 40k people casts 30k votes in every election.

 

[PayDay]

ROFL @ Climate Change Models

"I made this accurate chart on the weather patterns of a billion year old planet."

Ha.

 

[about_average]

Not what I'm asking. Why did they choose that specific style of machine with a paperless ballot.

Because they were selected by people clueless about technology and risks. When machines were being selected, there were comments like, "We don't need a paper audit trail. The machines are secure and tested."
Just like the fool in the article who says there's no risk because the machines can't be hacked en masse.
$7,000,000,000 spent on campaigning in 2012. Sure, no risk of organized fraud.

 

[RobDownSouth]

ROFL @ Climate Change Models

"I made this accurate chart on the weather patterns of a billion year old planet."

Ha.

Which is bigger? Five or Fifteen?

 

[PayDay]

Five or Fifteen?

Of what?

 

[PayDay]

Because they were selected by people clueless about technology and risks. When machines were being selected, there were comments like, "We don't need a paper audit trail. The machines are secure and tested."
Just like the fool in the article who says there's no risk because the machines can't be hacked en masse.
$7,000,000,000 spent on campaigning in 2012. Sure, no risk of organized fraud.

Right? Like it's not possible for the two small town election officials to be friends with the mayor.

 

[Wrong Element]

Because they were selected by people clueless about technology and risks. When machines were being selected, there were comments like, "We don't need a paper audit trail. The machines are secure and tested."
Just like the fool in the article who says there's no risk because the machines can't be hacked en masse.
$7,000,000,000 spent on campaigning in 2012. Sure, no risk of organized fraud.

I'm not sure if this sort of fraud would be technically possible, but what I do know is that races at the state and federal level are polled pretty extensively. I can't recall a single recent high-profile race where the vote count was so out of whack with the polls prior to Election Day that the most logical explanation would be cheating.

Now, if Scott Walker wins with North Korea-like margins tomorrow, or a Communist wins a congressional seat in Texas, we can maybe start asking some questions.