Dubious elections
Nov. 7th, 2006 07:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoIt's time to call in the UN to supervise US elections. Obviously the country that is trying to push democracy in the rest of the world is headed toward utter failure in the same department.
I just got back from the polling place. Some of you have seen me pointing out in the last couple of years that Diebold is NOT the only choice for counting votes, and that many areas, including my own, use other methods. I was not happy at all to see a Diebold touch screen on prominent display in the precinct. Apparently it is there "on trial" and people could use it if they chose to do so. To my utter disbelief, people were actually asking to use it.
Amusingly enough, it was not working properly at all, if there is any "proper" to those things. Refusing to record votes, refusing to recognize voters, etc. Frankly, I believe they are totally buggy and crooked.
I cast my vote the usual way. We mark a paper ballot designed for optical scanning. It is scanned on the spot and saved, so there is a paper trail and a valid recount can be conducted without "hanging chads" or lack of formal record.
When confronted with the actual candidate names, I voted for more Greens than I thought I would. Two Dems, one Republican, and the rest Green. All the county offices were Republicans running unopposed, none of them, especially not the county clerk, got my vote. And I voted to throw out all the incumbent judges. I'm getting angry. It's time to storm some political offices, drag the fat incumbents out by their greasy neckties, and string them up.
I just got back from the polling place. Some of you have seen me pointing out in the last couple of years that Diebold is NOT the only choice for counting votes, and that many areas, including my own, use other methods. I was not happy at all to see a Diebold touch screen on prominent display in the precinct. Apparently it is there "on trial" and people could use it if they chose to do so. To my utter disbelief, people were actually asking to use it.
Amusingly enough, it was not working properly at all, if there is any "proper" to those things. Refusing to record votes, refusing to recognize voters, etc. Frankly, I believe they are totally buggy and crooked.
I cast my vote the usual way. We mark a paper ballot designed for optical scanning. It is scanned on the spot and saved, so there is a paper trail and a valid recount can be conducted without "hanging chads" or lack of formal record.
When confronted with the actual candidate names, I voted for more Greens than I thought I would. Two Dems, one Republican, and the rest Green. All the county offices were Republicans running unopposed, none of them, especially not the county clerk, got my vote. And I voted to throw out all the incumbent judges. I'm getting angry. It's time to storm some political offices, drag the fat incumbents out by their greasy neckties, and string them up.
