I have never heard of a catastrophic failure of a number 2 pencil, that’s why the Russian space program uses them instead of the special pens that NASA had designed for space.
]]>Touch screens were probably thought to be the easiest to use by the most people; it does require a certain amount of manual dexterity to maneuver a mouse. Furthermore, anything that is attached to a computer-like device by a cord is likely to be swiped at some point, like the handsets off of old-fashioned pay phones. These things cost money….
Paper ballots are still the most cost effective (if not fastest) form of voting.
What is that axiom? A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that works.
]]>On the various methods of using a touch screen, the stylus method is usually the most accurate, whether the stylus is wired in or just a “stick”, it tends to provide the best pressure to the proper locations.
]]>Been there, been a victim of that. Wal-Mart uses those touch screen card readers at the check out, and they’re just miserable. Use the “pen” to touch the screen or you may end up paying for your order twice. OTOH, a local grocery store uses TS card readers without pens; no amount of jabbing it with your finger will make it work. I use a good ol’ Bic Stic pen…
Ya don’t suppose the voting machine problem might be alleviated if a “poking device” were provided to each voter? Think of all the germs you could skip.
]]>As for prisons, in addition to the private operations we have “faith-based prisons” operated by ministries.
Oh, yeah, one of the reasons I back the colorless Jim Davis is because the Republican promises to continue the “Bush legacy” of privatization which has wasted millions of tax dollars.
Voting is a core operation for government. Ask any business professional, you never outsource a core operation if you plan to stay in business.
If you buy this equipment from any of these companies you are forced to pay for an annual support contract. You aren’t allowed to put the support contract out for bids because the equipment and software is proprietary. No one would do this in business.
Jams, don’t ever let them take that paper ballot away. Having suspicious people from every party watching the ballots being counted is the best way of ensuring they will be counted.
These people are not taking office for months. There is no reason not to use paper ballots.
]]>Why am I not surprised? 🙁
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]]>The same is true of privately built and run prisons. I don’t know about Florida, but Texas has had its share of problems.
Introduce the profit motive into a major public function, and you no longer have an institution that serves the public interest first. Instead, it serves the perceived interests of the owners or stockholders of the business.In the case of voting systems, that perceived interest includes delivering an almost wholly faulty product. It is faulty either through negligence or by design; I lean toward the latter, because a faulty (i.e., hackable) product serves the perceived business interests of the vendors.
What is needed is not an open competition: what is needed is a Boston Voting Machine Party. No, I don’t plan to do that, but goodness knows, if there’s a kind of technology everyone would be better off without, it’s electronic voting systems.
]]>The software can prevent people from marking too many boxes and over-voting and remind them if they didn’t vote on an issue.
We use mark/sense ballots in my precinct, and the system works well.
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