Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Not Everything That Is Really Important Is Sexy But Getting The Ballot Right Isn't Hard Either
There is no alternative to taking the stealing of elections seriously. Without clean elections there is no democracy. And a government that takes power dishonestly will probably reinforce those measures that allowed them to steal the election to begin with.
Having clean elections with a paper record are the only way to have an elected democracy. There has to be some actual, physical record that is an unambiguous record of the voter's decision - not preference, this isn't a matter of choosing strawberry over chocolate but that's another part of it.
As important as the material the ballot is printed on is the fact that it has to be clear and familiar to the voter who has to mark it and check it. Anyone who has ever delt with anything that relies on the general public knows that even the simplest unfamiliarity can cause a significant number of them to "choose" what they didn't intend to. The ballot has to be in one clear and entirely familiar form, as familiar as a Lincoln penny, someone once said.
Without a reliable ballot that the voter can see and understand elections can be stollen even with a paper ballot but it would be a lot harder than with any form of machine voting that doesn't clearly show the voter and anyone who has to do a recount how the vote was cast.
The vote is no place to pinch pennies, it is more important than the facade of the Capitol, it's the only reason the Capitol is there. A democratic government wouldn't have to be reminded of that fact.
There is no alternative to taking the stealing of elections seriously. Without clean elections there is no democracy. And a government that takes power dishonestly will probably reinforce those measures that allowed them to steal the election to begin with.
Having clean elections with a paper record are the only way to have an elected democracy. There has to be some actual, physical record that is an unambiguous record of the voter's decision - not preference, this isn't a matter of choosing strawberry over chocolate but that's another part of it.
As important as the material the ballot is printed on is the fact that it has to be clear and familiar to the voter who has to mark it and check it. Anyone who has ever delt with anything that relies on the general public knows that even the simplest unfamiliarity can cause a significant number of them to "choose" what they didn't intend to. The ballot has to be in one clear and entirely familiar form, as familiar as a Lincoln penny, someone once said.
Without a reliable ballot that the voter can see and understand elections can be stollen even with a paper ballot but it would be a lot harder than with any form of machine voting that doesn't clearly show the voter and anyone who has to do a recount how the vote was cast.
The vote is no place to pinch pennies, it is more important than the facade of the Capitol, it's the only reason the Capitol is there. A democratic government wouldn't have to be reminded of that fact.
