A call for paper ballots in 2008

[eridani]

Limiting this to federal races would be far more doable than just tacking those races onto the myriad overlapping school board, sewer district, and state legislative races.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041106L.shtml

The call to action now is: HCPB for all federal races in the 2008 elections. This would mean hand counting just 1-3 races (the president and vice president; your U.S. senator if s/he is up for re-election; your U.S. Representative). Yes, we would need two ballots, one for these races and one for all other contests and questions on the ballots. Canada already uses an HCPB system for its federal races. Various states and municipalities already have protocols for HCPB, and one has been presented in this paper. These could easily be adapted from one jurisdiction to another. Elections are governed by state rather than federal statutes (HAVA notwithstanding). According to electionline.org, a website that provides an ongoing analysis of election reform, "Each state strikes a unique balance in allocating responsibility for elections between state and local governments.

[pnwmom]

1. Repubs don't believe in hand-counting. Remember the Washington

State recount? They fought it tooth and nail, trying to argue that hand-counting was less accurate than machine counting.

[BeFree]

2. It can be done

In fact, congress has the right to decide how federal elections are processed.

I found that out from the GAO report from last year. Don't have a link handy, but in that report the GAO laid out the duties of the congress when it came to electing federal offices.

What congress has done is allow states some leeway in how elections take place, but they could end that overnight.

The simplicity is astounding: just three races - President, Senator and Representative could very easily be processed on hand counted paper ballots. It just takes a congress with enough respect for our votes to make it happen.

[BeFree]

11. GAO report titled:

GAO
United States Government Accountability Office
Report to Congressional Requesters
September 2005 ELECTIONS
Federal Efforts to
Improve Security and
Reliability of
Electronic Voting
Systems Are Under
Way, but Key Activities Need to be Completed


All levels of government share responsibility in the U.S. election process.
At the federal level, Congress has authority under the Constitution to
regulate presidential and congressional elections and.....

------------------

I searched for "GAO elections" and up came this link to a pdf wherein was found the above quote.

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05956.pdf


Congress can regulate federal elections.

After the fiasco of 2006, if not sooner, we should demand paper ballots for federal elections, yes?

[mod mom]

3. Facts on HCPB from Voters Unite:

FACT SHEET FOR HAND COUNT PAPER BALLOTS



Hand counts provide the most accurate vote count:

When the count is extremely close–they generally use a hand count, such as in the Governor’s election in Washington State in 2004.



Paper ballots cost far less:

For 10,000 voters and 10 precincts:

Optical scanners with handicapped accessible equipment cost about $192,000 the first year, and more than $67,000 in later years.

DRE’s cost $364,000 the first year, and unknown costs for repair, maintenance, support services, environmentally controlled storage, constant power for batteries in later years.



Most electronic voting systems do not comply with requirements for the disabled:

The HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT (HAVA) requires that electronic machines provide means for both visually and physically impaired people to vote independently.

Diebold, ES&S, Hart Intercivic, Danaher, Sequoia, Unilect and AVS do not comply.



Paper ballots are less vulnerable to fraud:

Proper security procedures can protect paper ballots. The voting machines have hidden and sometimes undetectable methods to count votes, total the votes and determine voter intent



Paper ballots are far less complicated:

No staff computer training, no machine testing, no machine transport, no machine security, no updating software, no machine breakdowns, etc.



Facts from http://www.votersunite.org

[eridani]

10. Don't forget about Vote-PAD

http://www.vote-pad.us/

This device really does help the disabled--to mark the same paper ballots that everyone else uses.

[Kurovski]

4. K&R(nt)

[DemInDistress]

5. Yes, but will America still be under "Martial Law" in 2008?

The way things look today my feeling is King George the Imbecile will impose martial law upon the next major
attack, be it Iran, Houston, financial bio or chemical, (didn't forget nukes). My feeling GOP'ers in D.C. would welcome the hit,that keeps them in power.
Paper ballots works for me..but !!

[BeFree]

6. Paper Ballots....

...are the "Gold Standard" for elections.

[FogerRox]

7. The ERD needs 25 more votes PM somebody HELP

recommend the ERD NOW . . here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=nominate&forum=203&thread=422803

[Festivito]

8. Should be every American's right to cast a vote he can see, if he wants.

A paper ballot should always be acceptable, always, always, always.
If a voter feels it necessary, or just wanted, the voter should be allowed by law to be enabled to leave a paper ballot with the vote written thereon.

It may not be needed to be counted should the separation of vote be sufficient, but, it should be kept as a real vote.

If TOO MANY people vote this way, that should be taken as a NO-CONFIDENCE vote against the voting system being used and another voting system should be implemented as though it is the will of the people that it be implemented.

This should just be common sense.

[iconoclastNYC]

9. 2006 too.

funny thing about paper ballots. it doesn't take a 24 month procurement cycle to get them in place.

we can do paper ballots in 2006. it just takes bipartisan teams to count them.