Comments on: Feds: Paperless Voting Machines Insecure

Report Cites Electronic Voting Machines That Lack Paper Trails As Vulnerable To Malicious Attacks, Fraud

[frankly6]

This is just one more real issue that the "do nothing" GOP congress was ignoring despite repeated calls for oversight on the local, state and national levels. My guess is that the ease of manipulating these systems was used to benefit them and so they saw no need.

[grumpas]

I always wonder when I step away from the voting machine if my vote is going to the person I touched on the screen? My state has the paper trail and I always use it! But, I think anything that is electronic can be tampered with or malfunction! I think it is time to restore some integrity to the voting system! Make it a Federal crime to tamper with an election (and I mean jail time)!In fact, I think a lot of the voting system needs to be overhauled! I really object to my electorial votes going for Bush! I didn't vote for the .....! So, why should he get my state's electorial votes? Go by popular vote and be done with it! That is the only way the voter will feel like their vote counts for something!

[bluestardad]

you knew this all along but have done nothing!

[firststate]

Both systems have problems, the touch system%u2019s problems are covered here. Optical scanning%u2019s biggest problem is incorrectly marked ballots with an "X" or check instead of filling the space. Eventually, errant marks may be the new version of the (in)famous chads.

Combination of the two systems could use the best of each and eliminate their problems. Any selection device, even the current touch screens with a printer added can give the voter a printed optical scan ballot, spaces correctly filled, showing their choices for verification and deposit in an high tech container, a ballot box. A simpler optical scan system could then scan and report results. The two halves, select/print and scan/report, wouldn%u2019t need to be connected. Verifying reported results has a number of real possibilities before the dreaded hand recount, which would be easier without the need to decide if the voter meant a mark to be a vote.

The select-print part of the system would cost a small fraction of the touch screen recording and reporting machines since the most expensive part, their questionable software would be eliminated. It%u2019s simplicity would be a security & economic advantage. The scanning-report portion%u2019s costs would decline with consistent correctly marked ballots.

Simplifying and combining can produce elections where every vote will count, with more accuracy and cost less.

[nativewoman]

Posted by gertped at 07:38 PM : Dec 02, 2006

Some links for your review regarding the Act that started it and the acquisition of systems:

Help American Vote Act of 2002
http://www.fec.gov/hava/hava.htm

State by State Contracts Voter Registration Database contracts:
http://www.electionline.org/Default.aspx?tabid=288

State by State known electronic voting issues. Looks like maybe contracts are awarded state by state, or county by county or maybe even city by city. This site tells you who the manufactured the equipment:
http://www.ejfi.org/Voting/Voting-128.htm

Also, check out www.bradblog.com. He's been following this stuff for quite awhile.

[blarma]

Voting machines can be perfected along with a paper audit trail to the point where it would be very difficult to fix an election. Like so many other issues the national will is not there. So what else is new?

[gertped]

Most of the controversy seemed centered on the Diebold machines. For all the folks out there that voted absentee because of distrust of those machines , please know that the scanners used to tabulate those absentee ballots were manufactured by Diebold.

[gertped]

Most of the controversy seemed centered on the Diebold machines. For all the folks out there that voted absentee because of distrust of those machines , please know that the scanners used to tabulate those absentee ballots were manufactured by Diebold.

[gertped]

The question is , who contracted for the purchase of these paperless voting machines? Trust me , any person (of integrity) with even marginal intelligence would have made sure that any government voting system would have a back-up to audit or re-count.

[book54552134]

Every voter, whether Republican, Democrat or Independent deserve the right to expect that their vote will be registered & properly tabulated. Voters have the right to expect that if any problems result in any election, there will be a valid & dependable process by which authorities can recheck & recount all votes that have been cast. Voter confidence in the electoral process must be restored regardless of the cost. It is what makes the American Democratic process legitimate.