Electronic voting trustworthy?

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Are computers worthy of counting ballots?

Yes, theyre less error-prone than their human counterparts
3
13%
No, computers absolutely cannot be trusted with our votes
7
29%
I'm not sure, but there better be a real paper trail just in case
14
58%
 
Total votes: 24
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Avder
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Electronic voting trustworthy?

Post by Avder »

I dont know about you, but this scares the crapola out of me...

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/print.php?sid=17253

What do you guys think about some of the computerized voting stuff? I'd like to see some right wing stuff regarding the subject, too.
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Wolf on Air
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Post by Wolf on Air »

Given that the security of the systems shown off to date has been zero (Windows and MS Access, for crying out loud!) and there being zero peer review - no, no way.

(btw, there is some slight irony in that this is an electronic vote...)
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DCrazy
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Post by DCrazy »

Under no circumstances are electronic votes more trustworthy than paper votes.
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Top Gun
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Post by Top Gun »

I still like the 50-year-old mechanical voting machines that my county uses :P. I agree that electronic voting techniques are too unreliable and risky to justify widespread use at this time. Where they are used, a paper trail should be an absolute necessity. However, in the case of Florida, the risks of electronic voting far outweigh the alternative of relying on dimpled chads :P.
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DCrazy
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Post by DCrazy »

Why? So that people with arthritis or Parkinson's can accidentally tap the wrong selection? No thanks.
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fliptw
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Post by fliptw »

electronic voting may be faster, more accurate, and easier, but the current batch of equipment is just crap.


Like, I knew a guy who wrote a web-based voting system for my Students Association. It worked.

all things considered. its a pretty easy thing to code.
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DCrazy
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Post by DCrazy »

It's easy to code, and it's not even that much harder to secure than a standard business app. The problem is that in this country it's illegal for voting to be too hard for morons to use. At least the idiocy gap filters out the worst of the bunch in computer use.
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fliptw
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Post by fliptw »

electronic voting would also make it easier to vote if the effort was put into the interface.

A paper trail would be nice also.
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Grendel
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Post by Grendel »

Is it just me that finds this threats title funny ?

"Poll: Electronic voting trustworthy?"

Edit: ah, bad skimming me..
MD-2389
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Post by MD-2389 »

Seeing as anyone with a clue can rig them with ease, hell no.

Having a paper trail is A-1 Supar!
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Vander
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Post by Vander »

How are we supposed to trust the results of this DBB poll if there is no paper trail?!?!
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Avder
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Post by Avder »

Good call :P
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Kyouryuu
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Post by Kyouryuu »

Some critics of electronic voting machines decry that there is no paper trail, so sleazeball companies like Diebold can get away with fixing elections. Suppose we had a paper trial, and everyone got a little receipt identifying who they voted for in addition to the copy given to the voting office. How has the computerized system saved any time? It hasn't. You might as well take that single paper ballot and hand it to the election official and call it a day.

Technology for the sake of technology is a hideous practice.
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