[EM] Why We Shouldn't Count Votes with Machines

[Jonathan Lundell]

On Aug 16, 2008, at 12:54 AM, Kristofer Munsterhjelm wrote:

>>     I am for a record on disk of each ballot, but done in a maner  
>> to not destroy secrecy.
>
> You have to be very careful when doing so, because there are many  
> channels to secure. A vote-buyer might tell you to vote exactly at  
> noon so that the disk record timestamp identifies you, or he might,  
> in the case of Approval and ranked ballots, tell you to vote for not  
> just his preferred candidate, but both the low-support communist and  
> the low-support right extremist as well, so that he can tell which  
> ballot was yours and that you voted correctly.

In the US, at least, voting by mail has become so prevalent that I  
wonder whether it's worthwhile making voting machinery absolutely  
impregnable to vote-buying. All else being equal, sure, why not, but  
if we trade off other desirable properties to preserve secrecy, and  
leave the vote-by-mail door unlocked....