[EM] Re: Election-methods digest, Vol 1 #152 - 6 msgs

[Alex Small]

Dave Ketchum said:
> If the computer stacks them neatly and they are kept that way, then if
> Joe  was the 6th voter I could find his ballot as 6th in the stack.  In
> NY, if  paper ballots go in a ballot box, the contents are supposed to
> be shuffled  to prevent such looking.

I don't know if our machines here shuffle, but I don't think so.  Still,
there is a built-in privacy protection:  Although we keep a record of who
was the first, second, third, etc. person to RECEIVE a ballot, we keep no
record of what order they COMPLETED a ballot in.  Moreover, in many
polling places there are multiple precincts voting in the same location
here.  Person #5 from precinct 3031 might submit his ballot to the same
machine after person #7 from precinct 3032, and nobody would know.

Having multiple precincts at one location might seem strange, but it's
basically a way to divide the labor among the volunteers.  A third of the
voters will be the responsibility of one group of volunteers, a third will
be the responsibility of another, and so forth.



Alex