[KriegerGeist]

I think this could be a huge issue in the upcoming election. No paper ballot, no possibility of a re-count. How do you verify a eether-vote? How do you know how a computer server tabulated the votes? Is the computer geek in charge of the code liberal or conservative? Is the computer geek in charge of the computer server a liberal or conservative?

[kevkrom]

how to verify the vote counts reported by touch screen voting machines and how much trust to place in the software code controlling the recording and counting of the votes

1) You can't. 2) None.

There is a way to make electronic voting safe and verifiable, but the systems they have out there don't come close.

[Dead Dog]

What on earth is wrong with the old two bar ballot. Two black bars that you connect with a felt tip. No Chads, No confusing ballots. Simply checking box. This electronic crap is spooky. Especially if the "eether bunny" likes Kerry.

[KriegerGeist]

ping.

[backhoe]

-The Vote Fraud Archives--

[BigSkyFreeper]

The media is focused on the hacker aspect. I don't think they have to worry about that in West Palm Beach. Many of those voters couldn't follow a freakin' arrow.

[CMailBag]

Mastercard & VISA don't seem to have too much trouble. Maybe they should handle it.

[Steve_Seattle]

There was nothing wrong with the punch card ballots until Gore's goons stormed in and tried to steal the election. I've used those machines for nearly 30 years and no one ever questioned them until November 2000.

[hedgetrimmer]

Whats on the printout and what actual data that goes to get counted can be two different things. A paper printout from an electronic voting machine is only worth the paper its printed on, literally.

With punch cards or ultraviolet pens, you get tags you rip off your ballot and keep. You can take those back to the registrar later, and make sure your ballots are in his posession and were counted.

There is no connection that isn't tamperable between the receipt and the electronic ballot.

[tjwmason]

Here in England we still get a piece of paper on which we mark an 'X' by our candidate. What's so bad with that?

[Scenic Sounds]

I do understand that there are risks of fraud with these voting machines, but there were risks of fraud with the old system as well. Until this election, my county always used the old punchcard system that became so controversial in Florida. I know that, once I finished punching my card and handing it in, it would be more or less impossible to distinguish my card from anyone else's and I know that, if the system was infected by people willing to commit election fraud, my punchcard could have been easily replaced or supplemented by a punchcard fraudulently created. Any system is vulnerable to fraud if it's being operated by crooks.

I used the new machine yesterday and thought it was pretty neat. I understand that there is a lot of criticism of these new machines, but I wonder how much of the criticism is motivated by the concern that the suggestion that the new system is an improvement carries with it the implicit assumption there was something inherently wrong with the old system - that there may have been something wrong with the system in Florida 2000. LOL. ;-)