If it's about voting and it's almost funny, you're in Florida.

[shereads]

A paper receipt is nice but it wouldn't do all that much good. I have no doubt that the computer behind the touch screen could be programmed to allocate every tenth vote for candidate A to somebody else. If it was also set up to print and issue a receipt for the way the vote was actually cast, it could still make the misallocation.

In a state famous for a recount controversy, creating a system where no recount would ever be possible was obviously the best solution.

 

[minsue]

In a state famous for a recount controversy, creating a system where no recount would ever be possible was obviously the best solution.

Which is why it amazes me that they'd abandon it so quickly.

 

[shereads]

Receipt?

Hell, it's just a vote. It's not like you are buying gasoline or something.

AA

Hi pirate!

 

[shereads]

Which is why it amazes me that they'd abandon it so quickly.

Silly goose. Jeb Bush is in his second and last term. It's possible that someone whose brother isn't the president could become governor and abuse the system. Replacing it in key counties is the only responsible thing to do.

 

[minsue]

Silly goose. Jeb Bush is in his second and last term. It's possible that someone whose brother isn't the president could become governor and abuse the system. Replacing it in key counties is the only responsible thing to do.

Of course. Damn. I gotta brush up on my conspiracies. I'm getting slow in my old age.

 

[shereads]

Of course. Damn. I gotta brush up on my conspiracies. I'm getting slow in my old age.

The key to the whole thing is the programmer. Without one you can either trust, blackmail or bury in a shallow grave at the ranch in Crawford, all you've got is a pathetically flawed voting system that arouses the suspicion of conspiracy theorists. Besides, Diebold has made all the money it can make from the 2004 purchase. It's time to try something new.

 

[Awful Arthur]

Hi pirate!

 

[shereads]

 

[Awful Arthur]

I didn't see your reply to my post, Min and I don't ever want to miss those goose lips.

In fact, I could probably grow to like being goose-pecked.



AA

 

[Somme]

"Im with the Bush-Cheney team, and I'm here to stop the count."

http://www.thenation.com/thebeat/index.mhtml?bid=1&pid=2320

 

[Weird Harold]

A paper receipt is nice but it wouldn't do all that much good. I have no doubt that the computer behind the touch screen could be programmed to allocate every tenth vote for candidate A to somebody else. If it was also set up to print and issue a receipt for the way the vote was actually cast, it could still make the misallocation.
...
I still think "None of the Above" would have been a winner if that had been an option.

The paper trail on Nevada's voting machines isn't a "receipt," It's a printed record that stays with the machine to be used for a manual recount if one is required.

PS: Also, the training and procedures that were implemented along with the machines includes provisions to prevent fraudulent programming -- procedures adapted from the procedures to ensure that slot machines are honest.

Also, Nevada does have a "none of the above" choice on all state-wide contests -- it didn't get as many votes in 2004 as it did in 2000 and came in last both times.

 

[mrnles]

There is one other issue which I have not seen mentioned. Florida is also spending lot's of time and money insuring that ballots are available in Spanish as well. Not so sure I should get started on that, I may wear out the batteries of my wireless keyboard.

 

[Weird Harold]

There is one other issue which I have not seen mentioned. Florida is also spending lot's of time and money insuring that ballots are available in Spanish as well. Not so sure I should get started on that, I may wear out the batteries of my wireless keyboard.

Nevada sends out sample ballots in English and Spanish to everyone. The electronic voting machines can present the ballots in either language.

I'm not sure how much extra that costs -- presumbly just about double the cost of printing the sample ballots in one language because it uses twice the paper to print it twice and somewhat less for configuring the machines for the dual language option.

I think every State has to deal with at least two languages for their ballots but that is one area where electronic voting machines can save money -- at least in printing costs. I think Nevada's policy of giving everyone the same booklet with all of the languages available is the simplest way of solving the problem of ensuring that everyone gets a sample ballot they can understand.

Even if it is more expensive in printing costs, I suspect it is less expensive overall because there isn't the additional tracking and administrative costs of sending the right single language ballots to the right people.

 

[Boxlicker101]

There is one other issue which I have not seen mentioned. Florida is also spending lot's of time and money insuring that ballots are available in Spanish as well. Not so sure I should get started on that, I may wear out the batteries of my wireless keyboard.

California prints ballots and other information in Spanish, English, Chinese and Vietnamese. There may be some others but I know there are those four. I suppose this necessary but I hope it eventually won't be.

 

[rgraham666]

http://www.thenation.com/thebeat/index.mhtml?bid=1&pid=2320

My reaction if I was an election worker and this happened under my auspices?

"I don't care if you were appointed by God. Get the fuck out of here!"

Note: I would react the same way if some one from Gore's team had shown up and made the same announcement. Elections are too important to be screwed with by partisan dickwads.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

American democracy isn't predicated so much on the constitution and the Bill of Rights as it is on basic trust and a kind of naive faith in our institutions. If someone breaks this trust, there's not a hell of a lot we can do about it.

For the sake of argument, let's say the machines were tampered with in Florida or Ohio by the party in power and that the election was thereby rigged.

Who has the power to redress this problem? Not Congress. Not the supreme court. Not the national election committee. News services? Who's going to listen to them?

In other words, if the party in power were willing to play dirty, we'd be helpless to do anything about it.

--dr.M.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Police, no? Isn't voting fraud / tampering with government property illegal?

 

[Somme]

My reaction if I was an election worker and this happened under my auspices?

"I don't care if you were appointed by God. Get the fuck out of here!"

Note: I would react the same way if some one from Gore's team had shown up and made the same announcement. Elections are too important to be screwed with by partisan dickwads.

I wouldn't expect less of you. I must also say I'm impressed with your restraint.

 

[Somme]

Police, no? Isn't voting fraud / tampering with government property illegal?

I rather suspect the 'government' conciders your votes as theirs anyway.

 

[Boxlicker101]

My reaction if I was an election worker and this happened under my auspices?

"I don't care if you were appointed by God. Get the fuck out of here!"

Note: I would react the same way if some one from Gore's team had shown up and made the same announcement. Elections are too important to be screwed with by partisan dickwads.

I am inclined to agree with you but, in all fairness, the article in the URL is extremely biased. It mentions the US Supreme Court and accuses them of being partisan but fails to point out that the Florida Supreme Court was equally biased, maybe even moreso, except that they were appointed by Democrats. At this time, it appears that the FL. Supremes wanted to delay the certification of the vote count until the deadline had passed, effectively disenfranchising millions of citizens in Florida and giving the election to Gore. In retrospect, that might have been a good thing but it would not have been fair.

The eventual recount, a moot effort by that time, showed that Bush actually did receive an extremely slim plurality. There was a lot of cheating even then but, since both groups are equally crooked, this would probably balance out.

One of the funniest things I ever read was about William Dailey being one of the leaders in the Democrat's contingent. He is the son of Richard Dailey, probably the most crooked politician in the history of America. Who better to recognize crooked politics, a redundancy, than his son? I'm not sure of the spelling of the last name and don't care enough about it to look it up. I think everybody knows who I mean anyhow.

 

[LadyJeanne]

One of the funniest things I ever read was about William Dailey being one of the leaders in the Democrat's contingent. He is the son of Richard Dailey, probably the most crooked politician in the history of America. Who better to recognize crooked politics, a redundancy, than his son? I'm not sure of the spelling of the last name and don't care enough about it to look it up. I think everybody knows who I mean anyhow.

Bill Daley was Secretary of Commerce under Bill Clinton, Al Gore's campaign chairman in 2000, and has managed several campaigns for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, his brother. Daddy Daley (Richard J.) was the infamous Chicago mayor during the Dem National Convention fiasco in 1968.

Crooked. Indeed. Chicago loves 'em, though, cause they do love Chicago.

 

[shereads]

http://www.thenation.com/thebeat/index.mhtml?bid=1&pid=2320

Katherine Harris, John Bolton and co. are further evidence that it pays to be a toady.

 

[shereads]

You're wrong on at least two counts here, Box:

The Florida Supreme Court were simply enforcing Florida law, which required a statewide recount in the event of an election that close. Katherine Harris was responsible for enforcing that law in her capacity as Sec. of State, but instead she acted in her capacity as Bush's state campaign manager.

Everyone who wanted to believe that the 2000 election wasn't stolen welcomed the Miami Herald story that gave Bush an 800+ win in Florida - and then ignored a later story in which the Herald hired an independent accounting firm to conduct a more thorough hand recount.

Gore won Florida.



Edited to add: He showed remarkable grace considering what he knew: that according to Florida law, he should not have had to request a recount. It should have been automatic when neither candidate had a substantial majority. Republicans latched onto the fact that the Gore campaign requested a "selective" recount. Sources from inside his campaign have said that they were so stunned when Harris' office failed to prompt a recount, they requested a partial hand recount in districts with the most obvious problems because they knew that a hand recount statewide could take weeks or months. In fact, it did. The travesty is that the recount wasn't ordered by the state but by a newspaper who published the results despite the fact that it contradicted their own, highly publicized count. The independent count has been ignored as if it never existed. It's one thing to say that recounts were moot once the Supreme Court made its decision, but to continue quoting the Herald recount that has since been disputed by the paper's own admission is just wishful thinking.

I am inclined to agree with you but, in all fairness, the article in the URL is extremely biased. It mentions the US Supreme Court and accuses them of being partisan but fails to point out that the Florida Supreme Court was equally biased, maybe even moreso, except that they were appointed by Democrats. At this time, it appears that the FL. Supremes wanted to delay the certification of the vote count until the deadline had passed, effectively disenfranchising millions of citizens in Florida and giving the election to Gore. In retrospect, that might have been a good thing but it would not have been fair.

The eventual recount, a moot effort by that time, showed that Bush actually did receive an extremely slim plurality. There was a lot of cheating even then but, since both groups are equally crooked, this would probably balance out.

One of the funniest things I ever read was about William Dailey being one of the leaders in the Democrat's contingent. He is the son of Richard Dailey, probably the most crooked politician in the history of America. Who better to recognize crooked politics, a redundancy, than his son? I'm not sure of the spelling of the last name and don't care enough about it to look it up. I think everybody knows who I mean anyhow.