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General discussion

Voting Today - Super Tuesday

Mar 2, 2004 2:18AM PST

For me it was Maryland. Seems Kerry dropped by here almost unnoticed sometime the past few days. I don't think Edwards made it.

I deliberately went during the "lunch hour rush" so I could judge voter turnout. The weather is great, but at my polling place the turnout seemed dismal. The worry there is that marginal people with a strong special interest backing in either party in the lesser elections could be our choices come November. Not a good thought.

There is a liberal Republican incumbent Congressman here named Gilchrist who has a conservative challenger named Colburn who is a state senator, and I didn't think Gilchrist would have a problem, but a low turnout would favor Colburn some pundits believe, so maybe a long shot at an upset there. The problem is that Colburn probably would lose in this state against a Democrat in the general election.

Maybe everyone else is waiting to vote in the supper time rush hour. I have a feeling though a lot are not going to vote, opting instead to enjoy this wonderful weather we're having in the sunny 60's.

Maryland is using the new Diebold computerized voting system statewide, except for Baltimore. Baltimore probably is waiting till they can figure out a way to "fix" them before switching. Baltimore elections are probably a little less crooked in past than Chicago elections.

The new computer screen voting is great for ease, but I don't like it, because I don't think it can be trusted in the future, that trust becoming less at each election.

1)It has NO paper backup if a computer malfunctions. We all know computers will malfunction at times. I hope it has flash memory, it may have a hard drive, but I didn't hear one and the voting place was fairly quiet.

2)Any electronic means of tallying a vote is the easiest to corrupt in my opinion.

3) I doubt this first use will result in any corruption of the election process simply because these units are quite new and none have disappeared yet to my knowledge so their programming can be hacked.

4) I think these computers will be easier to stuff quickly with the right hack software and a handheld Palm device than the old lever operated type which is probably what Baltimore is still using for today's election.

5) Our county had one of the most highly praised voting systems before this, now we are using these questionable ATM type voter computers.


Before this our county used the paper ballots that were pencil marked and then the voter feed them into a tally machine, so in the case of a questionable election, each box could be opened and the paper count compared to the registered count. In my opinion that is THE BEST method. They are talking about having a paper backup in future. I hope so. I'm already considering ordering the November absentee ballot so I can put in a paper vote and as my protest over these new computer voter machines. I hear there is already a boycott starting against them, and I guess the best way to insure your vote can't be changed or stolen is to use the only paper vote left to us, which is the absentee ballot.

I hope a strong boycott is going by the November elections so that the state of Maryland is printing overtime in order to get enough absentee ballots out to residents, and thereby increasing the election cost to Maryland, with the threat of it expanding in future elections so they will bring back the paper voting and automatic tally machines we used previously in our county.

Here is how it works. You get a voter approval card from the poll workers checking to see if you are registered, and to what party. You are then given a generic card for that party's primary, which activates any of the Diebold computer screens available. You push it in and it locks there till you have completed the vote. You have the chance to change anything (touch screen) until you push the final "cast ballot" button, at which time it completes the vote and ejects the access card.

Discussion is locked

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Paper ballots with electronic scanning and totalling.
Mar 2, 2004 3:40AM PST

I tend to like that method myself.

It provides a paper trail with ballot marked by the voter. It can also provide computerized count so totals can be available as soon as polls closed.

It could even provide network communication of totals to a central totalizer while still offering a paper trail if desired.

Without a paper ballot, recounts are more meaningless than ever, IMO.


RogerNC

click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

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Re:Voting Today - Super Tuesday
Mar 2, 2004 6:33AM PST

Electronic touch and vote. Like you I was disappointed in the turn out and it was 5pm here.


Express yourself!!! Get out and vote!!!

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Super Tuesday in a small town..........
Mar 2, 2004 6:53AM PST

Touch screen here, and I voted for the lesser two of six evils on the ballot, for seats on the Village Council.

Politics in this town (pop 2800) are not liberal/conservative or anything close. Anyone elected to office, or employed by the Village, were born and raised here, speak Spanish, and many can trace their lineage to original families that settled this place.

The turnout is so small that a finger and toe counting machine could probably do the job.

Having lived and worked in LA and Chicago, this place is like finding a lake of Vat 69 in the desert.

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Article about the new "ATM" voting machines.
Mar 2, 2004 7:01AM PST
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/03/02/e.voting.test.ap/index.html

Electronic voting made its debut in
cities and towns from Maryland to
California on Tuesday as election
officials beefed up security for the
record number of voters expected to
cast e-ballots for the first time.

Scattered technical problems were
reported in the early hours as voters in
10 states, including California, New York
and Ohio, went to the Super Tuesday
polls to choose a Democratic presidential
nominee and decide primary contests for
congressional and state races.

Advocates of electronic voting say
paperless ballots save money and
eliminate problems common to old
systems. But the technology brings a
new breed of security concerns, like
software errors and hackers that could
make the results unreliable....(continues at link)
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Re:Article about the new
Mar 2, 2004 8:14AM PST

Hi James

We are still using the poster type where you connect the arrows.

George

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Yes, that's the ones. I feel more secure about my vote with those. [nt]
Mar 2, 2004 10:41AM PST

.