NYT: Demand Grows to Require Paper Trails for Electronic Votes

[gristy]

This was posted on their web site an hour ago.

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE

Published: May 23, 2004

WASHINGTON, May 22 - A coalition of computer scientists, voter groups and state officials, led by California's secretary of state, Kevin Shelley, is trying to force the makers of electronic voting machines to equip those machines with voter-verifiable paper trails.

Following the problems of the 2000 election in Florida, a number of states and hundreds of counties rushed to dump their punch card ballot systems and to buy the electronic touch screens. Election Data Services, a consulting firm that specializes in election administration, estimates that this November 50 million Americans - about 29 percent of the electorate - may be voting on touch screens, up from 12 percent in 2000.

But in the last year election analysts have documented so many malfunctions, including the disappearance of names from the ballot, and computer experts have shown that the machines are so vulnerable to hackers, that critics have organized to counter the rush toward touch screens with a move to require paper trails.

Paper trails - ballot receipts - would let voters verify that they had cast their votes as they intended and let election officials conduct recounts in close races.

more: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/23/politics/campaign/23vote.html?hp

[AP]

1. Why put Seelye on this story? She hates democracy.

[Freddie Stubbs]

3. When has she ever said that?

:shrug:

[AP]

4. When has she said she hates democracy? It's implicit every time she lies

about Democrats.

http://www.google.com/custom?q=seelye&sa=Google+Search&cof=AH%3Acenter%3BAWFID%3Ac32a032061318778%3B&domains=dailyhowler.com&sitesearch=dailyhowler.com

[The Zanti Regent]

13. Read the Daily Howler!

Bob Somerby has documented how that lying whore Seelye lies any lies for her Nazi masters.

Go through Bob's archives at http://www.dailyhowler.com

[John_H]

15. She says it three times every time she fires up her computer.

Then writes stories imbued with that sentiment. It's like magic. :)

[AP]

2. Funniest paragraph in the article:

Not everyone agrees that paper trails are necessary, or even advisable. Numerous local election officials - the ones who actually conduct elections - argue that paper trails could create worse problems than the perceived ones that they are intended to cure. They warn of paper jams, voter confusion and delays in the voting booth while voters read their receipts.

[napi21]

5. Paper jams? What are they planning on getting, antique

printers? I haven't had a paper jam in over 10 years! Even that long ago, the jam was usually caused by operator error.

I do agree, it would slow down the voting process because people read at different speeds, but one should never sacrifice accuracy for speed!

[AP]

6. And how about the wilful misinterpretation of the idea of getting receipt

Nobody wants a rcpt to put in his or her pocket to take home.

We want an auditible paper trail with a clear chain of custody which can be relied upon for a recount.

DUH!!!!

[tranche]

20. voter confusion...

ma'am.. why does it say here that it's logged 6 votes for Bush when I know for a fact I voted Dem only one time?

"voter confusion and delays in the voting booth while voters read their receipts"

[truthisfreedom]

7. bump

[TroglodyteScholar]

8. kick

:kick:

[glitch]

9. 2 years later and NYT puts Seelye on it - impressive - nt

[dusty64]

10. Happy whenever I see

coverage of this critical issue, I doubt if it will do much good for this year though, unfortunately.

[w4rma]

11. Paper trail. Paper ballots. NOT receipts.

A receipt, you can take to someone to show how you voted, and then they can pay you for your vote/receipt.

A paper ballot, stays with the voting people and is counted as a vote.

Paper trail is just a list, kept with the voting people, of the ballots.

[VolcanoJen]

12. Kick!

:dem:

[Lindacooks]

14. Isn't the right to demand a recount

basic to US law somewhere? If there's no recount ability in these Diebold machines, they should be illegal.

[MGKrebs]

16. Another good story, from CNet:

Fight over e-voting leaves election plans as casualties

...Michael Alvarez, professor of political science at the California Institute of Technology. "E-voting machines can only work if people have trust in them, and if we are in a situation where we lack trust, then we aren't going to benefit."

...Avi Rubin, a professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University. Rubin, an expert on the security of e-voting machines, has repeatedly testified that an audit trail of paper receipts is necessary. "People want to avoid the hanging-chad problems, but to just throw away the paper ballots isn't the solution."

http://news.com.com/Fight+over+e-voting+leaves+election+plans+as+casualties/2100-1028_3-5216643.html?tag=nefd.lede

[LynzM]

17. Kick! n/t

[loudsue]

18. The days until the election are ticking away.....what can DUers do TODAY?

Please, DUers! Let's not just leave it up to those who are putting the big pieces together. Each and every one of us can call a hand full of congress critters each day from now until this is solved.

We have to work in our State legislatures, in our State and County election boards, but we can also put pressure on at the national level by getting the folks in Washington DC to wake up.

For information on what YOU can do, go to

www.blackboxvoting.org and to www.verifiedvoting.org. Sign up to help in your community, and get the ready-made talking points to help you!

DEMOCRACY IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT!! And it is the very basis of our Democracy that is in danger here.

Just get a visual of dumbya's face on election night, when he figures out they weren't able to fix the election, and that his power trip is over. I hold that picture in my mind every chance I get. But if we can't take care of the black boxes before election night, well.... you know the rest.

:kick::kick::kick:

[crossroads]

19. You are right! Great suggestions!!!

We ALL need to do our part!!!
:kick: