What the hey? Just because I changed my support from McCain (who I voted for as a registered Republican) to Obama, suddenly I'm the enemy.
O.K. Thanks.

I used to recieve updates by mail on my candidates and voted on certain things by mail when I lived in a rural area. There is no absolutely fool proof guarantee there will be no fraud whatsoever.

I personally think the old punch card is as good as any. Some people have a problem with normal people with human flaws overseeing that kind of vote.

We actually still have the punch card (at least we still had them during the primary) in my town. The rest of the county went to high tech, but we didn't for various reasons. Money being one of them.

I have faith that the volunteers and paid workers who count our votes will do so in a responsible, honest manner and I'm fairly sure McCain will win here by a landslide.

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I did not win the Powerball again!


"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
--Jonathan Swift

Above is a video of a voting official "calibrating" the machine, and it STILL fails to accurately record the voter intent.

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There's another complaint about the machines and how hackable they are ...
The "paper trail" wouldn't matter under this scenario. Your "paper" would give you a false sense of security, as your vote gets "switched" elsewhere...

Moreover, as this video from UC Santa Barbara Computer Security Group as commissioned by the state of California demonstrates, simply because a DRE machine produces a so-called "paper trail" doesn't mean there is any means of accurately verifying the voters' ballots or the final vote counts. Aside from the fact that such "paper trails" most likely will never be counted by anyone anyway, the fact is that these machines are easily tampered with, in about two seconds, such that even the "paper trails" can be hacked without the voter noticing, in such a way that they would match the internal hacked numbers perfectly. In such a case, as demonstrated by UCSB, even a 100% post-election "audit" of the machines "paper trails" would fail to reveal that they had been maliciously tampered with.

The BRAD BLOG : VIDEOS: Vote Flipping on Touch-Screens in WV

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Republicans have a sweet racket because they run on "government is ineffective," and then when they **** things up, they go, "See." – Bill Maher

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint.
When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist."
--Dom Hélder Pessoa Câmara

A printed "receipt" of a persons vote allows corrupt political parties to "PAY" for a vote directly instead of having to trust in what the person "says" they voted for.

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"Most people can't think, most of the remainder won't think, the small fraction who do think mostly can't do it very well. The extremely tiny fraction who think regularly, accurately, creatively and without self delusion---In the long run these are the only people that count." ***** Robert Heinlein

There are a great many ways to commit fraud through the mail not the least of which is "here gramaw, let me fill this out for you.".........A ballot is like "evidence" in a trial there HAS to be a "chain of custody" and that is impossible "through the mail".

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"Most people can't think, most of the remainder won't think, the small fraction who do think mostly can't do it very well. The extremely tiny fraction who think regularly, accurately, creatively and without self delusion---In the long run these are the only people that count." ***** Robert Heinlein

The "problem" many people have with "touch screens" lies in the fact that it is NOT the surface of the screen that "reads the input" it is the area slightly above the screen therefore a TOUCH is unnecessary and since most people have more than ONE finger a touchscreen will sometimes read the wrong fingers when they come NEAR the screen. That is why at stores they provide a little "pen" to use as a pointer on the debit/credit card machines.

In the video that you supplied please notice the way the "official" held his hand while "touching" the screen. In order to touch a screen properly you MUST use a totally extended finger and point straight down at your target from a totally vertical position. Most people just do not realize this but I learned this back in the early 80's as touchscreen were brought into common usage.(Disney "control panels" were among the first computer systems to make extensive use of touchscreens and multiple screen changes for control) Notice also that ALL of the "misreadings" were from a lower part of the screen were his other fingers tripped the "grid" first before his "pointer" even got to his intended target.

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"Most people can't think, most of the remainder won't think, the small fraction who do think mostly can't do it very well. The extremely tiny fraction who think regularly, accurately, creatively and without self delusion---In the long run these are the only people that count." ***** Robert Heinlein

The "little pen" is typically provided WHEN A SIGNATURE is needed...
Do you want people to "sign" with their "finger"? People aren't used to that and the resulting signature would be absurd.

The election official in my video, who knows how to use these machines, was using his finger.
They are CALLED "touch screens" cause the user is to TOUCH the SCREEN.
Using a finger is the INTENTION.

The real problem is in how these machines can get out of whack. I've got a Nintendo DS that has the touch screen do some funky stuff cause it is old and abused. "Calibrating" it is meaningless, as it is DAMAGED.
And the wonderful thing about the government work is that you can count on things that should be REPLACED still being used...


No.
You don't.
I seriously want to take a poll and ask everybody if they think you are a credible witness on ANY subject...


My GAWD you talk b.s.

ALL his "selections" were made with his pointer finger stretched outright, and the rest of his hand did not extend past the lowest joint in his pointer finger. It DID NOT get anywhere near close enough to the screen.

If you LOOKED at his final selection where he claimed "it's out of calibration", you'll see something funny.
He STATES what he is doing. He STATES that he is selecting an ALL REPUBLICAN BALLOT.
What he SELECTS comes through PROPERLY on the area where he selected it. The top box is checked.
But what the MACHINE does based on his selection is wrong. It gives him a "Nader" selection.

The "Republican" box (which is what he selected) STAYS SELECTED, but instead of giving him "McCain", it selects NADER when his finger was nowhere near that.


My GAWD man you are unbelievably contrary. The last example showed how a REPUBLICAN ballot would be screwed up by this machine, but you're too busy being contrary and making up b.s. to care...

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Republicans have a sweet racket because they run on "government is ineffective," and then when they **** things up, they go, "See." – Bill Maher

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint.
When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist."
--Dom Hélder Pessoa Câmara

That "pen" is also there to be used for input (PIN; hitting "enter)...I do that all of the time...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

After spending tons of money they'll realize the punch cards were a better mouse trap.

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I did not win the Powerball again!


"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
--Jonathan Swift

In my township we are still using the old "optical" scanners. I was told that optical scanners were among the most trouble free. So I guess I will quit complaining about them..

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"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"-FDR

http://jeffersonblog.history.org/doe...ecision-making