Comments on: Florida Dumps Touch-Screen Voting Machines

State Will Shift From Controversial Electronic Systems To Ballots With Verifiable Paper Trails

[alphaa10-2009]

The Florida fiasco demonstrates the need for verification via an auditable paper trail. Amazingly enough, many states STILL lack such verification, although some claim their shiny new voting machines are "ready" for 2008.

Ready, by what standard? Back in 2001, the whole country thought Florida was a miscarriage of the electxoral process. So much so, congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), providing billions in new business for voting machine makers-- all of them run by Republicans. The original idea was to have a consistent, auditable voting process in place by 2004.

However, instead of the built-in audit measures required by HAVA, the nation got only an unseemly feeding frenzy by the voting machine makers over HAVA money. These voting machine makers "forgot" to provide for critical audit features-- the part of HAVA that was its very reason for being.

According to a USAToday article, written months after Bush was designated winner of the Florida contest, uncounted Gore votes-- votes which were clearly marked for Gore-- would have given him a net 688-vote edge over Bush, had these clearly-marked optical ballots been counted.

Instead, Gore advisors made the decision to push for a recount in only four counties, and thus entered the metaphysical realm of what hanging and dimpled chads might express about voter intent.

[firststate]

I heard Susan Harris was working for the D.C. Madam, Miss Palfrey.
Posted by stevex47

Working for the madam as what? Her lack of number skills rules her out as an accountant. As an escort, the cost of drinks for the client would be prohibitive. I guess she could work in her stable, but I didn't know that Ms. Palfrey kept horses.

[randalds]

Democrats lack of turnout is why Bush won in 2000.
Posted by buhk at 12:10 AM : May 06, 2007

Illegal suppression of the black vote was the main reason Gore "lost" in Florida. That plus the ballots that had many many Jewish people waking up to the surprise that they had actually voted for the racist Pat Buchanan, when they honestly intended to vote for Gore. Lot's and lots of dirty tricks help push Bush into the win column, but the biggest reason of all that he won was because of the US Supreme Court and the class of Al Gore not to fight the obvious fix after their ruling.

[buhk]

I've heard it said that if you repeat a lie enough people will believe it. Before touch screens in Florida we had a paper trail of ballots. Three independant newspapers recounted and recounted the official ballots and each time Gore was short. The surprise for me was that the margin was as slim as it was. I really couldn't find anyone who was 'enthused' about voting for Al Gore. Democrats lack of turnout is why Bush won in 2000.

[stevex47]

While we're at it. Let's get rid of the electoral college.

[vancouverboo]

Not quite idiot-proof enough, yet.

There are always a few idiots beyond idiot-proof and we don't want to let their votes slip away.

Count every idiots vote. That's the american way.

[zootallures2]

They can dump voting period. What difference does it make? It's all rigged and fake no matter what kind of voting machines. Both parties are the same and chosen by rich people. It's ummm... oh... taxation with out representation...LOL. It's all a stupid waste of time.

[stevex47]

I heard Susan Harris was working for the D.C. Madam, Miss Palfrey.

[ericjaffa]

States need both paper ballots and random audits.

Here in Minnesota, we have both.

[booyaw_77]

Its too bad I didn't sell gas to "the democracy airline".. Cuz they wouldn't fly from point A to point B. No.. They'd go, point A, point C.. point W.. point F. Then we gotta make a brief stop in point T. Point K.. Point U. Where were we go'in again?"

"Need gas?"

[booyaw_77]

It was funny. Man, I wish I was the investor in that fiasco. First they were embarassed by the ***-eyed judge staring at the chads. So they said: Lets get bilingual electronic tablet pc's. And there'll be no more chads! Then they spent this whole heap'a money on these fancy dancy tablet pc's. And then they said: Well, its a conspiracy! A computer hack. And we gotta get a paper trail! We need the chads back!

Politics is the richest high stakes game in the world. Don't listen to what they say about wmds. Its politics.

[feelfree1]

RandalDS,

I'm going out for a frog smoothie.

Have a good day.

[randalds]

OPPPPSSS!!!!! I meant BILLION!, not trillion!

Sorry....my bad...thanks for pointing it out to me feelfree....

[feelfree1]

RandalDS,

Re: "$400 trillion dollars in debt!"

Whoa! Are you sure about that figure? I think that we could follow a money trail to Mars with $400,000,000,000,000!

The illegal invasion of Iraq has cost us more than $400 billion, so far, with long-term costs estimated beyond $2.5 trillion. Our current National Debt is around $9 trillion. These two larger figures added together ($2.5 trillion + $9 trillion) leaves us with an individual obligation of around $38,000 for every man, woman, and child in the U.S.

[starleo146]

Jeb Bush is gone so now they got to get rid of the preprogram ballot if you press dem it goes rep. who made this decision to dump itand go to a voting machine that counts it should be nation wide verify----verify.

[randalds]

Instead of hanging chads what Florida SHOULD have hung were the republican toadies who were doing the election over-seeing and fixing the ballots in 2000! Thanks to them we now have 3200+ troops dead and are $400 trillion dollars in debt!

[homespunlady]

At least if the optical scan counters mysteriously "mess up" there's something there to examine rather than hearing "tough luck crybaby" as the cheating "winner" walks off laughing.
Watched that kind of garbage go on here in the Midwest. There was REAL shock when those dirty tricks were contested for once.

Now, let's remove the "gee we forgot to get enough ballots to certain districts but have PLENTY in the Right Districts" ploy stopped.
I'd suggest if they run out of ballots in those "certain" districts, they allow voters to go to the polling places that DO have them lock stock and poor folk.
A few times rubbing elbows with the poor ought to get plenty of ballots to the right districts.

[inventagod2]

Some things shouldn't change, paper ballots for one. Electronic computer-based machines are programmable. Power is a narcotic for some, and they would do anything to win, and have.

[hazelknows]

Mark Foley, Katherine Harris, Jebb Bush and now unreliable touch-screen voting machines. Florida is kicking the trash to the curb. And all have the thing in common, they all helped put one incompetent failure in the white house. Keep cleaning............

[harp1963]

I think paper ballots provide the best security from people who would do ANYTHING to have power and position. Some things never change. See what Thomas More wrote back in the 1500's when he was described as "a man for all seasons." He was an eminent lawyer and chancellor of England.

"Men desire authority for its own sake that they may bear a rule, command and control other men, and live uncommanded and uncontrolled themselves" (St. Thomas More, A Dialogue of Comfort).