Which current voting system is the most reliable?

[elperromagico]

Please let me know if I've left out any. :)

[elperromagico]

1. Let's keep this kicked.

:)

[Feanorcurufinwe]

2. The paper ballots here in Montana are optically scanned.

I didn't know how to vote. :shrug:

[elperromagico]

4. Mine are the same way. I consider that to be optical scan.

A plain paper ballot would be counted by hand, IMO.

[doni_georgia]

3. Of course we have touch screen in Ga. instituted after the 2K election.

Of course this was supposed to be so Florida wouldn't happen again. Of course now they have learned just how easy it is for the touch screen system to be hacked and tampered with.

[TahitiNut]

5. It's Optical Scan, IF ...

... voters get a validation scan at the polling place and have an opportunity to correct their ballot. Otherwise, there's really not much systemic difference between paper ballots and paper ballots with optical scanning. Optical scan isn't a balloting system; it's a counting assist that establishes certain legibility criteria for ballot design. Thus, "Optical Scan" and "Paper Ballots" are semantically equivalent. There's nothing to inhibit manual recounts of optically scanned ballots.

The real key to a reliable election system is detecting fraud or abuse. Unless it's detected it'll never get corrected. Touchscreen offers neither the opportunity to detect nor correct tabulation of votes. Optical scanning systems offer the greatest opportunity for both detection and correction.


From worst to best, it's touchscreen, lever machine, punched card, manual paper, and optically scanned paper. The only reasonable way to employ touchscreen is to with a parallel, cycle-counted paper ballot stream. Receipts and "cash register rolls" just don't hack it; no way, no how.

[elperromagico]

6. I agree. The key is evidence of your votes.

Any system which doesn't provide an exact paper record of how you voted is, in my opinion, absolutely worthless. You need that to validate the final tallies.

[TahitiNut]

7. Not just 'evidence' ...

... but a protected, countable ballot stream. Some 'evidence' that a person takes with them (a so-called receipt) is less than worthless. It's not even toilet paper.

[elperromagico]

8. By "evidence,"

I mean a paper ballot which can be checked. The "receipts" I've been given at the polling place contain no record of my vote. The paper ballot itself (containing my votes) remains at the polling place, available for examination in case a recount becomes necessary (or if the numbers simply don't add up).

I also believe that exit polling, performed by independent companies that have been fully "vetted," is essential to an honest election. We also need "watchers" in the polling places to ensure that nothing fishy is going on. I think it's time we took our vote seriously in this country, and quit trying to hide the process behind a lot of technological crap.

Hope this clarifies my position.

[marigold20]

9. If I can't have the old lever machine

with its satisfying "ka-ching" when you vote, I guess I'd say optical scan. It's very easy to understand and if you screw up as I did the scanner won't accept your ballot. I tried to vote for two school board candidates instead of one. I had to take the walk of shame and ask for another ballot.

[elperromagico]

10. Same thing happened to someone else while I was voting in '02.

An elderly gentleman voted both "Yes" and "No" on a ballot initiative. The machine rejected it, he was informed of his mistake, and was given another ballot. It was quite a painless operation, really. Optical scanning can be quite efficient, and of course, you have a "paper trail."

[NMDemDist2]

11. in arizona i fill in a BIG arrow pointing to my candidate's name

then they scan it before it goes in the box. Seems pretty fail safe

[elperromagico]

12. Here too.

:hi:

[BlackVelvetElvis]

13. Nothing is safe except maybe the paper ballot

In my county we use a touch screen. In 2002, it was time for the primaries and my mother, who is a registered Democrat, was given a Republican electronic ballot by one of the county workers. She is elderly and was very confused as to why she had all Republicans on hers. I called the county up and gave them a piece of my mind. On purpose? Do they pull that stunt alot? Or was it a human error?