[EM] Upgrading Voting Machines May Take 10 Years, USA Today Reports

[lvtinnin]

Hello,
I am new here.  I have an idea for improving the voting method a
little.  It would not cover all areas of voting, but it would be
directed at eliminating ballots with too many votes for a candidate,
and eliminating ballots with votes not cast for some choices on a
ballot.  This would help to prevent votes getting thrown out, and also
vote tampering if something was not voted for.  If you want me to
continue a little more I will.  It is not complicated.  It might be
less expensive than putting in all new voting machines. It might
partly eliminate the problem of hanging chads.
Yours Truly,
Lester Tinnin at lvtinnin3 at worldnet.att.net
or nocodemus at yahoo.com

On Thu, 15 Feb 2001 22:48:41 EST, you wrote:

>D- To U.S.A. EM folks especially-- the below has a direct bearing on the 
>semi-emergency necessity to get more accurate election methods.
>------
>D- 
>U.S.A., State and local government spending in 1999 was 
>$ 2,613.5  Billion noncapital spending
>$    308.7 Billion gross capital investment
>
>Data- Survey of Current Business, Jan 2001, pp. D-8, D-14.
>
>Give me (and the rest of the U.S.A.) a break about the 10 year time period to 
>upgrade voting machines.   
>
>How much for paper ballots only and an emergency mobilization of the entire 
>adult population to count / recount ballots on election night ???
>------------
>
>Upgrading Voting Machines May Take 10 Years, USA Today Reports
>  
>Washington, Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Industry officials estimate that replacing 
>the nation's outdated punch-card voting machines can't be accomplished by the 
>next presidential election in 2004, USA Today reported. 
>
>Modernizing all of the voting equipment in the U.S. may take a decade, 
>industry leaders told USA Today. 
>
>``I don't think the industry is ready for the demand that is potentially 
>going to come,'' Kimball Brace, a leading election consultant, told the 
>newspaper. There are fewer than a dozen companies in the U.S. that 
>manufacture voting equipment, the newspaper said. 
>
>Congress may end up paying $2.5 billion in voting-machine upgrades, USA Today 
>said. There are roughly 600,000 old punch-card and mechanical-lever voting 
>machines in the U.S., according to the newspaper. 
>
>Researchers are examining the issues surrounding the disputed punch-card 
>ballots during the 2000 presidential election and how to improve the accuracy 
>of voting machines. A team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of 
>Technology and the California Technical Institute is already working to 
>develop better voting procedures and machines for the 2004 election. 
>
>(USA Today 2/14 A1) For the USA Today Web site, type {USAT <GO>}. 
>
>Feb/14/2001  9:03 ET