General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: All 150,000 members of this site should be flooding MSM and the DOJ with [View all]ahlnord
(91 posts)During the major blackout (brownout?) in New England a few years ago it was apparent that the nation's electrical grid is old and easily disrupted. There were concerns that a terrorist attack that could easily take down the system, causing a multitude of problems. I haven't heard much about that since then, but it is easy to see how an entire election could be cancelled, delayed or disrupted by a loss of electrical power. Now that we see the super storm moving towards the eastern seaboard, we anticipate electricity being down in a large area. As a simple matter of national security we should return to paper ballots, hand-counted ("hands-on voting" . An election could even be held by candle-light, if necessary!
I am an election judge who used to count ballots the old-fashioned way. It is practical, doable, and extremely satisfying! It is the safest, most fool-proof method, virtually impossible to hack. After WW II the U.S. insisted that Germany's elections under their new democracy be hand-counted paper ballots, and they still are to this day... as are elections in the U.K. and Canada. This is not a matter of returning to the Stone Age. Why are we afraid to count our ballots transparently like we used to? I am baffled why everyone is so afraid to abandon the ballot tabulators and voting machines. Counting is easy when conducted at the precinct level. The results for each precinct are published immediately that night at the precinct and the ballots and results (sworn to and verified by election judges from both parties and observed by election observers) are sent on to the Secretary of State's office. Anyone with an adding machine can add the results of each precinct to check if the totals reported by the state conform. It is our citizens' duty not only to serve on juries, defend the nation, and vote, but to also count the ballots and determine who got elected. But we have corporatized our elections, allowing corporations to count the ballots and it is the corporations that have taken over the country. Perhaps this is a movement best taken up at the grassroots level, where each precinct can decide to throw out the machines. As the movement spreads, more precincts will see that it is not hard to count if the people are willing to do it. We must take back our vote.