| Truth, Lies, & Politics When is a coincidence too much of a coincidence to be one? |
| For the Politics Articles and Blogs Assorted Articles 2 |
Fiction Stops Here |
| Testing machines, replacing machines, paper trails...We've discovered a series of broken pieces, but no one proposes a holistic solution. Computers, paper, people will fail. We must revamp election laws to be on par with technology to recognize election anomalies and statistically improbable results. Until we fix our election laws to protect us from machine and human error, and HUMAN INTERPRETATION of election results our election process will continue to be broken. The courts should not decide the people's choice. In 2006, it was the failure of Florida's election laws that permitted an election with statistically improbable results to stand (18,000 undervotes). Our 2000 debacle with the pregnant chads resulted from failure to maintain the voting equipment properly. However it was the failure of Florida's election laws that permitted the chaos that followed. Had Florida's election laws caught up with technology, both elections would have been an automatic re-do. Moreover, if we are to secure one voter, one vote ... every-time integrity in our election process, we must implement high-bar guidelines for voting machine providers and elections officials to uphold. What would the profit-conscious business world do? We must be more business wise. We need tighter, better, wiser controls. USA Today. |
| Election reform, yes. Paper ballot, yes. But until we fix our election laws to be on par with technology, to protect us from machine and human error, and HUMAN INTERPRETATION of election results our election process will continue to be broken. The courts should not decide the people's choice.... Time CNN Blog Swampland. |
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| Time for another do-over. But this time, let's do it right... What would private business do? What if we weren't spending tax dollars? Let's make sure we know what our requirements are before rushing out to buy another fix... Aftermathnews.wordpress.com. |
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| ES&S Optical Scanners. It's another sad day for Florida. Not only have we rushed to a solution without defining the problem, but we're going with the same vendor! Yes, ES&S is about to win another election. But apparently the real goal of attaining a clean election that ensures one voter, one vote every time will not be part of this solution...Continued. Goleft.tv. |
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| The jury is still out on Sarasota's missing 18,000 votes. But paper will not ensure voting integrity. Since ballot scanners independently count (or don't count) ballots they are just as suspect as the touch screens. Only not as visibly so. Moreover, one technological glitch and we still wind up with court-decided elections...Continued. Appletreeblog.com. |
| Viewing proprietary software may not provide any answers at all. If, and that's a very big IF voting machines were tampered with, any deviant code is long gone. Moreover testing the machines after the fact might not be productive unless all conditions match those encountered on Election Day, including internal system dates, quantities and individual ballot voting patterns... The Seminal. |
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| Dan Rather's report is compelling & long overdue. But it's not just the hardware or paper trail. If we are to secure one voter, one vote... every-time, our government agencies must become more business savvy. St. Louis political blog, PubDef.Net. |
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| Florida. The problem of the hanging chad wasn't the voters. It was with the lax maintenance of election equipment [and defective punchcards] that prevented the chads from being poked out cleanly.... www.dvorak.org. |
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| Is Manilla to blame? [Dan Rather's Report] Although there's plenty of blame to spread around, I don't believe it sticks on poor Manilla for trying to comply with cheaper-faster production. Top down, not bottom up... Maine Democrats. |
| If we are to achieve one voter, one vote... every time, we must go back to basics. Apply sound business practices to ensure the voting systems we purchase fully meet our needs for election integrity. And ensure those machines work... all of them. Not just a sampling. We're caught in a tailspin of bottom-up catch and fix of serious flaws that should have been addressed prior to purchase. Moreover, until we also fix our laws to be on par with technology, to protect us from machine and human error, and human interpretation of election results our election process will continue to be broken...IPS News. |
| We should be more business wise. If our vendors and elections officials had spent the time upfront following good-business practices, we wouldn't be facing another questionable election. The problem isn't that our voting machines are flawed. The real problem is that they didn't find the failures before they were purchased. We're not picking out speak-and-spell toys here. We're running a country. And it's not just the paper. If we are to secure one voter, one vote...every-time integrity in our election process, we must.... Community.chhi.com, www.meridianstar.com. |
| We're jogging across quicksand in lead hip-boots. Until we look at the big picture, our elections will continue to be broken. We need tighter, better, wiser controls...Continued. Reddit. |
| Holding makers of electronic registration and voting equipment more accountable does not ensure a good election... especially if we find their system flaws after the voting takes place... Blog Cleveland. |
| Our voices, our votes are indeed at the heart of democracy. At the same time, I believe wholeheartedly in the advantages of computerized election systems (and banking systems and business systems and etc.) It's not the computers that run us amok. It's the absence of good business practices that allow, even invite poor quality, lack of security, and yes corruption. Forums.chron.com. |
| Voting system requirements should be technology-neutral. However, our election laws should not...Computers, paper, people will fail. Election laws must recognize technological voting anomalies... www.FCW.com |
| Remember, "It's the economy, stupid?" It's NOT the paper! Paper offers the means to recount. Period. Sadly, even a papertrail will not ensure one-voter-one-vote-every-time with the new state-of-the-art independent, stand-alone vote counting machines. Optical ballot scanners are just as suspect as touch screens.... CrooksAndLiars. |
| Ballot Scanners cannot secure one voter, one vote foolproof/geekproof elections. Ballot scanners are still stand-alone independent vote counting machines. The will break. They will hiccup. And they will miscount, miscalculate and misplace votes. For sure paper provides recount capabilities, but until our laws recognize and enforce recounts and/or do-overs in all situations where technology produces statistically infallible results, election officials and the courts can still decide the people's choice. Riskman.typepad |
| Time to stop flitting from fix to fix. Past time to get it right... Implement high-bar guidelines for voting machine providers and elections officials. Moreover, we must realign election laws to fit today's technology, to protect us from machine and human error and HUMAN INTERPRETATION of election results. Otherwise that silent coup marching across the country in BALLOTS OF STRAW's fictitious voting machines just might become reality. www.rationalreview.com. |
| We can fix the machines but until our election laws catch up with technology, our election processes will continue to be broken. Touch screens, ballot scanners, voting machines...Computers, paper, people will fail. We must revamp election laws to recognize technological anomalies and statistically improbable results....The latest on the Holt Election Reform Bill...Restrict DRE Touch Screen. BradBlog.com |
| Holt's bill in its strongest form did not look at our voting process in its entirety, top down and bottom up. Hit-and-miss fixes generally work about as well as plugging a hole in a sieve. It's the entire process---the computers, systems, people, paper and... the laws.... Continued. John Edwards. |
| Ohio has called in the experts, while Florida hunkers down in the swamp with the alligators snapping at our heels. Florida's rush to purchase another round of ES&S voting machines demonstrates our lack of good business practices... Computerworld.com. |
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