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Vote Flipping

Anyone having experience with voting machines yet in early voting states?
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I voted last weekend (I live a few miles north of Austin in Georgetown). They had a touch-screen voting thing but I have no idea what model or make it was. Every previous election I've voted in here had paper ballots. What kind of "experience" are you talking about?
 
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Sasha said:
I voted last weekend (I live a few miles north of Austin in Georgetown). They had a touch-screen voting thing but I have no idea what model or make it was. Every previous election I've voted in here had paper ballots. What kind of "experience" are you talking about?
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Well, something like this, for example:

 
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R.Mackey said:
Seriously, if this is real, why not cheat back? Or are they already doing so?
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If this were real, it would be a simple thing to prove. After all, the machines can be tested and we even know who has acess to them.

This thread belongs in Conspiracy Theories.
 
WildCat said:
If this were real, it would be a simple thing to prove. After all, the machines can be tested and we even know who has acess to them.

This thread belongs in Conspiracy Theories.
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Except that people have tried to get the machines tested in the past and found that since the election companies own all the machines, they could not get their hands on them. Also there is no way to verify what program loads were in place in the event. Also not only the machines themselves but the tabulators were in question. Also not only the machines but the NUMBER of machines (as they slow down the process) has been used to suppress turnout. Also, as we saw in Ohio in 2004 (and there were successful criminal prosecutions) recounts using the machines are trivially rigged.
 
BenBurch said:
Except that people have tried to get the machines tested in the past and found that since the election companies own all the machines, they could not get their hands on them. Also there is no way to verify what program loads were in place in the event. Also not only the machines themselves but the tabulators were in question. Also not only the machines but the NUMBER of machines (as they slow down the process) has been used to suppress turnout. Also, as we saw in Ohio in 2004 (and there were successful criminal prosecutions) recounts using the machines are trivially rigged.
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Oh, BS. The machines are still there and can be tested. And if this was a vote-stealing scheme by the GOP and the company it's the worst scheme ever - it would have to be 100% successful to work, and it was found out the first day of early voting.

It's either operator error or a flaky touch screen. It's certainly not some elaborate but incredibly stupid vote-stealing scheme.
 
BenBurch said:
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." -Mahatma Gandhi, (attributed)
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Nice cop out, Ben.
Of course being an Illnois Democrat I can undestand why you don't want to discuss Democratic hanky panky.
 
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WildCat said:
Oh, BS. The machines are still there and can be tested. And if this was a vote-stealing scheme by the GOP and the company it's the worst scheme ever - it would have to be 100% successful to work, and it was found out the first day of early voting.

It's either operator error or a flaky touch screen. It's certainly not some elaborate but incredibly stupid vote-stealing scheme.
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It's the "Diebold and the other companies are in on it" part that sends this into woo territory.
To be fair, I think the Dems have a lot of legit complaints about Florida in 2000..I do think some GOP electiion officials acted in a very biased manner in the aftermath....and we will probably never know what really happened.
But I have seen no convincing proof that the 2004 election was stolen.
And , beleive me, if I though the GOP was stealing every electiion, I would be the first to want some people hung.
I think it might be a good idea for states and counties to actually BUY the machines rather then rent them...it might be cheaper in the long run...but still, if there was an investigation I presume that the companies would have to turn over the machines if supeonaed.
 
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Rigging a voting machine to change votes visibly, right in the voter's face, has got to be the stupidest possible way to attempt rigging an election. That's like a pickpocket using a flashing neon sign reading "SOMEONE IS PICKING YOUR POCKET" to distract the mark.

NWO Kitty's son is going to wish he'd kept that street-sweeping job.
 
ktesibios said:
Rigging a voting machine to change votes visibly, right in the voter's face, has got to be the stupidest possible way
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Yes. But Wildcat will tell you it's a conspiracy. :rolleyes:


By the way - why was the thread moved?
 
Look, both parties are going to try to get away with crap. I don't see anybody (outside a few fanatic partisans who think their pary is made of angels and the other party of devils incarnate) denying that.
I just find the whole "The Machines are fixed at the factory, and electronic voting is part of conspiracy to steal elections" routine to be silly and ridiculous, and driven more by partisan fury then anything else.
 
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Its part of the media/DNC propaganda campaign to make people believe that somehow the GOP can only "steal" elections and never win. The truth is that both parties are engaged in voter fraud, it just so happens that the DNC is far better at spinning the media to make itself look innocent.

But, because most American voters are dumb (see some of the people in this thread), they will believe it. Of course if you actually do some thinking it becomes clear this was a simple glitch: If the GOP was out to steal elections, why would they make it obvious that votes were being switched ON THE SCREEN SO THAT YOU CAN SEE IT? Smart enough to steal the elections of the most powerful country in the world, but not smart enough to make sure it isn't obvious?

Please. This is was a technology glitch, and the DNC propaganda artists went wild and the dumb voters ate it up.
 
Oliver said:
But why in the world would anyone allow any voting machine that doesn't provide paper trails?
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I don't know what you mean by "paper trails" (nor am I yet convinced that you've settled on that, either), but "receipt-freeness" is an important property of election protocols.

The "secret" part of "secret ballot" is more important than many folks realize. Any election protocol that provides means to determine how any specific voter voted is more exposed to corruption by votes "bought" by giving the voter money or letting him keep his legs intact. Paying Bob for his vote is less attractive if you can't be sure Bob kept his end of the deal. Threatening Bob for his vote is less effective if he can tell you what you want to hear and you can't prove otherwise. If he can't be sure who they are and aren't, it's harder for the winner to use his new official powers to punish those who voted against him.

Be careful what you wish for.
 
DavidS said:
I don't know what you mean by "paper trails" (nor am I yet convinced that you've settled on that, either), but "receipt-freeness" is an important property of election protocols.

The "secret" part of "secret ballot" is more important than many folks realize. Any election protocol that provides means to determine how any specific voter voted is more exposed to corruption by votes "bought" by giving the voter money or letting him keep his legs intact. Paying Bob for his vote is less attractive if you can't be sure Bob kept his end of the deal. Threatening Bob for his vote is less effective if he can tell you what you want to hear and you can't prove otherwise. If he can't be sure who they are and aren't, it's harder for the winner to use his new official powers to punish those who voted against him.

Be careful what you wish for.
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Paper trails are physical documentation on what has been voted, not on who voted. It is fairly easy to manipulate a database that records votes: All I have to do is change a couple of values.

If there are pieces of paper that how what has been voted these are a lot harder to manipulate.

There are concepts for electrical voting machines that will only register a vote if the voter has reviewed and approved a print-out of their vote.

In that case, you can easily look at the electronic records to decide who won, and whoever challenges that result (or the quality of the machines, or the integrity of those handling the machines) can simply count the prints.

At no time is there a connection of who actually voted what.
 
I don't know how paper trails are supposed to help out or prove. Even if the machine printed a receipt that showed how I 'voted' how the heck can I be sure that the machine isn't lying to me.

I just went and voted early at City Hall. I chose the paper ballot which requires you to fill in a block with a ballpoint pen for each race. After filling it out, I am directed to insert the completed ballot into the slot of a machine and if it don't spit it back out the vote is 'valid' and accepted -- I don't think it scans and tallys at this point.

I walk out of City Hall with a piece of paper that identifies what Congressional and Representative district I can vote in that the ballot was for and a serial number of the ballot -- which gets tallied to my name (I had to fill out a simple application and produce picture ID, that is cross checked against the voter rolls, to get a ballot). I have no objective way of PROVING that my vote was or will be tallied faithfully. I have to take that on faith and trust.

If you have no faith or trust in the 'system' then there is NO manner of voting, paper trails, etc. that will suffice.
 
This must be a conspiracy theory, because only crackpot papers are reporting on it...you know, NPR, CNN, New York Times....Fox News.
 
Well the machine in the video that Oliver posted was keeping a paper track of what was being voted for. The moral of the story is exactly the same as if you are doing a paper ballot, make sure that it's completed correctly and as you want it before confirming your vote. If you screw up, or the machine screws up, make sure it's fixed. If you don't bother checking, then it's your own fault.
 
Every electronic voting system I've seen described, even paperless ones, show a final confirmation. If it has recorded the wrong vote, why would you confirm it? At that point you have the ability to demand another machine or a different method of voting...

It's not one-click shopping here...

I'm far more worried about manipulation after the fact.
 
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thaiboxerken said:
This must be a conspiracy theory, because only crackpot papers are reporting on it...you know, NPR, CNN, New York Times....Fox News.
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the flaws in the systems are not the conspiracy theory, the conspiracy theory is the notion that they were designed that way with the intention of giving the election to the republicans
 
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