MSNBC:Optimism about voting reform wanes (Extensive discussion)

[EFerrari]

MSNBC:Optimism about voting reform wanes

By Huma Zaidi
Updated: 40 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The current and future state of election reform depends on which expert or official you ask. Six years after the most controversial presidential election in modern history and a federally mandated overhaul of the voting process, a group of experts and election officials from around the country gathered in Washington to discuss reform efforts last month. The picture most of them painted wasn't very optimistic. But the first real test of the new system, they all agree, will come as states hold their primaries this year. Elections administrators hope that the primaries will be an opportunity identify and correct problems before the Nov. 7 general election.

Almost a dozen states that have already held primaries this year have experienced problems. In Pennsylvania's Allegheny County last week, officials found 750 uncounted absentee ballots. Apparently poll workers, using new equipment and procedures, mistakenly put the ballots in the wrong place.

In another Pennsylvania county, a local race was overturned because a worker's error while operating new machines resulted in a miscount. In Tuesday's Arkansas primary, officials in more than a dozen counties reported problems with new machines, necessitating a ballot count that stretched into the middle of the night. Election officials in some Arkansas counties told the Associated Press that the manufacturer of new electronic voting machines didn't provide programming equipment in time to adequately train poll workers.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12972404/from/RSS/

Please keep kicked! :hi:

[jsamuel]

1. funny, based on the non-reporting of it, I wouldn't know there was "electi

on reform"

[EFerrari]

4. It's sprung like Venus out of some PR maven's head?

Actually, because of the Hinder American Voters Act, there are problems in most states as election officials scramble to be "in compliance" -- a wonderful term -- so they don't miss out on the Federal underfunding.

[jsamuel]

2. About that Arkansas primary... I VOTED ON PAPER, THANK YOU

[The Deacon]

3. Election Reform?

I thought we were just going to let the Supremes appoint the President & do away with all this divisive voting stuff. Just causes hard feelings, you know.

[EFerrari]

5. You'd think they'd have a pill for that by now.

[BeFree]

9. It does appear that way

Looks like everyone got over it.

While election 2000 changed everything, some folks think Dems still stand a chance of getting elected.

If the supremes don't do it, Diebold will.

[Kurovski]

6. OH! Those pesky poll workers!

It's a good thing they don't have access to three levels of entry to use in many different combinations to create their "errors", "mistakes" and "glitches" like the machines themselves do.

In other words, dear MSNBC: It's the machines, stupid.

K&R.

[Kurovski]

7. Kick(nt)

[Kurovski]

8. Kick(nt)

[Patsy Stone]

10. And I'm #5!

Off to the greatest page! :hi:

[PATRICK]

11. Another report from the inmates

of the asylum. Wow. The overall distortion taken for granted and every single detail is so rich in diversion, missing the point, talking points that to do a wearisome analysis of this blurb alone is absolutely staggering.

And THIS is the election reform "news" most people get.

Election reform is not framed in terms of anything except "smooth running" getting those dumb humans trained to serve the system, growing pains that presume efficiency, not the misnamed "reform", is the problem and solvable. And that is the frame. In the details we are given rich anecdotes only to support "human error", logistics in the implementation of the wonder machines, no judgment given at all to the machines themselves- which of course have the virtue of being able to be "fixed" by fiddling with the source code. But oh, those dumb ape election workers and all those errors.

At this point it is irrelevant whether this group is made up of conscienceless paid liars or clueless dupes(most likely 100% the latter despite a legion of knowledgeable REAL reformers saying totally different and more accurate things to the three monkey media and getting extremely little headway.

The problem is in the programming not the human hardware. Whether it is the secret source code or the space between human ears, voting is supposed to be the moment of decision when one breaks free from all that and makes a decisive visible mark. The deliberate intention to intrude as much thinking process error as possible into obliterating that act is as bad as the opportunity of fraud itself- which must grow like germs in an open wound anyway. Once trapped in the thinking, digital renditioning process there is no exit no escape and the very clarity they search for is only available by ignoring and shutting down such laughable absurdities as this committee review.

Personally I think this search for the perfect election brain will move to the more quiet, hidden, real life free internet voting, where no single clear physical act need ever muddy the purity of brain mashing the next election. The removal of the human IRL element, the marking of the ballot by the hand,
will thus be complete and democracy will in every sense be rendered invisible.

And in reporting about this invisibility again the ONLY sense that will be reported is the uncritical virtue of this modern process, whereby mental muddle and confusion is contained reordered and adjudicates itself free of the human act of voting. That, despite the fact that in this shell game there ARE hands moving the shells and someone manipulating the whole process physically to control the whole result.

[slay]

12. K&R for fair elections

Cause we sure haven't had um since 2000. :(

[Stevepol]

13. K&R!!

[mom cat]

14. Kick!

[gristy]

15. .

He adds that voters must understand that implementing changes of this magnitude takes time. "My guess is -- honestly -- by the time we get through 2008 elections, we will have noticed a fairly significant improvement in terms of the voters being able to cast and count ballots accurately throughout the system."

My God. :cry:

[AuntPatsy]

16. Kick for the desire to disable fraudenlent elections in the future.