I saw this on CNN.com and it just makes it all the more obvious that these machines are not perfect.

Why can't they print out a reciept of your vote when you finish, you can look it over and sign it before submiting the vote though the machine and on your way out drop your signed receipt in a ballot box for storage. Then there would be a hard copy of your vote on file with the state if there is a challenge or crash with the electronic tally.

I just don't get why this is not a bigger issue this ellection year.

[ July 28, 2004, 10:07 AM: Message edited by: Denver Fan ]

In certain circles, this has been a big topic for quite some time.

How George W. Bush Won in 2004 (or \"How to Hack an Election\")

Black Box Voting

Check out this website. It shows a simulated voting machine and how the election can easily be rigged.

Where's the paper?

Here is my letter to the editor of our local newspaper here in Orlando, FL. It will be interesting to see if they print it. Yes, I live in Florida. Heaven help us!!! We have actually thought about voting by absentee ballot but we have heard our machines will still be the scan type where you fill in the circles with a black marker.

Dear Editor,

I have a concern with what I am hearing lately in the news about the new touch screen voting machines that will be used during the November presidential election. It is strange to me that in almost every transaction we make during our daily routines we get a receipt for what we have done. When we go to the grocery story we get a receipt. When we go to the ATM we get a receipt. We can even get a receipt at the toll booth for spending 50 cents if we want one.

Doesn't it seem logical that we could get a receipt from the voting machine we are casting our vote on if this device is electronic and claims to store all our votes in it without the use of a paper trail. What if we trusted our banks the same way? We just go about our business and hope that the banks will keep up with our money and never short us. We would never stand for not having a paper trail with our banks.

I have found that if you let people, organizations or government tell you what they are going to do and you have no decision in what is being done around you then you have lost a very important part of your freedom. Every person should demand a paper trail for any electronic machine that is keeping our sensitive data whether it be our banking data or our voting data. Every person should demand a receipt and paper trail for the vote they are casting this fall. If a paper trail cannot be supplied then I would suggest voting by absentee ballot instead. That way you know for sure your vote is written down somewhere even if it ends up in the truck of someone's car and doesn't really get counted until later, but that is another story.

Thanks,

My fair city will be using electronic voting machines in the fall election. It has already used these machines in a primary in June. The machines being used are not made by Diebold. Nonetheless, I intend to vote absentee. I want a paper record of my vote on file.

Good idea Twin58!! We have the optical scan machines in our area. I feel better about those since I actually fill in a circle with a black marker and I place the ballot into the scan machine myself. At least there is a paper ballot if they need to do a recount.

This is a very good website. They have lots of information and resources.

www.verifiedvoting.org

Here is a bit about voting machines from today's Paul Krugman editorial:

Jeb Bush insists that electronic voting machines are perfectly reliable, but The St. Petersburg Times says the Republican Party of Florida has sent out a flier urging supporters to use absentee ballots because the machines lack a paper trail and cannot "verify your vote."

The column

Here is the article from the St. Petersburg Times. Looks like someone forgot to get ole Jebby's permission before sending out this flier. Now even the repugs are doubting the e-voting process. WOW!!! eek!

GOP Flier

Only you guys can turn this into an anti-Republican discussion. This is a nonpartisan issue, and an important one.

I do not believe electronic voting machines should be used if there is no hard copy paper ballot to verify/match if a problem occurs. How do we conduct a recount if one is needed? How do we invalidate a ballot if a voter makes a mistake?

In Du Page County here, we use scan-tron type ballots. With a felt tip marker provided to us, we darken an oval circle next to our selection. The entire one-page, letter-size ballot is then inserted into a scanning machine/ballot box. If the unit registers a properly completed ballot, the voter is finished. If it doesn't, it spits out the ballot so the voter and election judge can determine if it should be deemed spoiled and a new ballot issued.

In this situation, there is at least a paper trail. In the totally electronic machines used, there is not.

Quote:
"Florida GOP Playing Games with Voting Machines

New revelations spark renewed demand for verifiable, auditable, recountable votes"
PFAW

Governor "Pumpkin Head" is at it again in Florida!

[ July 30, 2004, 11:01 AM: Message edited by: gadbearr ]

Uh, no. It's not only here. You're right, it should be a non-partisan issue, and it is important.. to the very survival of our democracy, no less! And rightfully, it's also the source of anti-Republican sentiment.

It is a fact that at least two of the largest companies, especially Diebold, that make electronic voting machines have close Republican ties. Diebold is the one that has been so cavalier about the lack of security with their voting systems. Here are some \"soundbites\" from commondreams.org (which is a \"progressive\" website, but a little Google searching will turn up much more):

It's shameful and embarrasing and scary that a companies so intimately connected to the core of our democracy - elections - are also intimate with one political party. Thus, it is inherently an anti-Republican discussion.

You're just plain nuts. A company is now "Republican" and can't be trusted with making a voting machine? Get real already.

Show me a company that makes voting machines that hasn't contributed in some manner to either party. In fact, show me a large manufacturer that hasn't contributed to anyone politically.

Really. Some of you here watch way too much TV to be filled with all these flights of conspiracy.

No, he's not "plain nuts"--where have you been? Are you completely unaware of how the Republicans, under Jeb Bush, behaved in 2000? Are you unaware of how they are again trying to rig the election in their favor, with their faulty "felon" lists, and laws barring recounts with electronic touch-screen machines, and secret memos urging Republicans to vote by absentee ballot while publicly proclaiming that everything is okay? What kind of double-talk, duplicitous, hypocritical crap is that?

Also, are you unaware that Republican Senator Chuck Hagel OWNED AND RAN a major voting-machine company, and there were questions about his possible manipulation of the votes? Or that the head of Diebold stated unequivocally that he would win the election for George W. Bush? Or that the GOP in Michigan is again discussing "suppressing" the black vote in the Detroit area? That's hardly conspiracy, it's REALITY. It's ALL ON THE RECORD. No one is nuts for pointing it out; they just might be off their rocker if they deny that there are numerous attempts to deny people their hard-fought rights to vote.

[ July 31, 2004, 08:56 AM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

Good Lord! You people with your conspiracy of Republicans controlling voting machines. Jeez.

And this coming from someone belonging to the Party that wrote the book and several sequels on how to steal elections. Was it any surprise that Bill Daley, of the First Family of Fraud, ran Gore's campaign in Florida? And we all know to which party the deceptive Daleys belong.

How about this possible scenario...John Kerry wins precincts that historically vote Republican (or those that have been skewd to help the Republicans thanks to politically-motivated redistricting like we recently had to endure in Texas) and then he goes on to win The White House. Do we think the Repugs are going to leave that alone? Hell, no. Let's wait and see if this turns out that way. It would be sweet revenge.