Comment Verification of votes in San Diego (Score 2, Insightful) 482
Here is San Diego, the people counting the votes try and make the system
not only count correctly but appear to count correctly.
They use an optical system to read ballots marked by the voter.
Random batches (about 5% the last time I checked) are selected
for hand verification. In other words, the hand count the votes
and then check what the machine came up with.
Also for a small number of randomly selected precents, they hand
count every vote. (All batches for all machines.)
All ballots are kept for a certain amount of time. If you want to
question the count, there is a procedure where you can get a
recount of just about anything you want to.
The ballot is the piece of paper. The machine helps count the ballots,
but it's the paper that counts.
Now it is possible to tamper with a machine. If you don't change the vote
too much you have a small chance of getting caught. Tamper with many machines
and the chance of discovery increases.
So the counting process is fairly secure. Maybe not the best, but there are enough
checks in the system to convince me that it's working.
The real problem is that there are no validation process perfomed on the voter.
You can signup to vote in 50 different voting locations if you want. You could
even sign up to vote usign 50 different names in the same location and the poll workers
could not question your ablity to vote.
I could even get my three year old daughter a voter registeration and take her down
to the polls. As long as I say that she's eighteen the poll workers can't question it.
And if she votes absentee, they won't even get to see her, so she can learn to vote early.
A real problem here has been with people signing up large groups of people who cannot legally
vote (illegal aliens for example) and getting them to turn out on election day.
Also there is the problem with corrupt election's officials "finding" enough absentee ballots
to throw the election to their party. (See Washington State's governers race for example.)
Technology is not the problem. Checks and balances can be build into the system to detect
any tampering with the machines. There are much bigger problems with other parts of the system.
not only count correctly but appear to count correctly.
They use an optical system to read ballots marked by the voter.
Random batches (about 5% the last time I checked) are selected
for hand verification. In other words, the hand count the votes
and then check what the machine came up with.
Also for a small number of randomly selected precents, they hand
count every vote. (All batches for all machines.)
All ballots are kept for a certain amount of time. If you want to
question the count, there is a procedure where you can get a
recount of just about anything you want to.
The ballot is the piece of paper. The machine helps count the ballots,
but it's the paper that counts.
Now it is possible to tamper with a machine. If you don't change the vote
too much you have a small chance of getting caught. Tamper with many machines
and the chance of discovery increases.
So the counting process is fairly secure. Maybe not the best, but there are enough
checks in the system to convince me that it's working.
The real problem is that there are no validation process perfomed on the voter.
You can signup to vote in 50 different voting locations if you want. You could
even sign up to vote usign 50 different names in the same location and the poll workers
could not question your ablity to vote.
I could even get my three year old daughter a voter registeration and take her down
to the polls. As long as I say that she's eighteen the poll workers can't question it.
And if she votes absentee, they won't even get to see her, so she can learn to vote early.
A real problem here has been with people signing up large groups of people who cannot legally
vote (illegal aliens for example) and getting them to turn out on election day.
Also there is the problem with corrupt election's officials "finding" enough absentee ballots
to throw the election to their party. (See Washington State's governers race for example.)
Technology is not the problem. Checks and balances can be build into the system to detect
any tampering with the machines. There are much bigger problems with other parts of the system.
