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

[Dave Ketchum]

On Sat, 16 Aug 2008 07:27:10 -0700 Jonathan Lundell wrote:
> 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....
> 
There are two topics here:
      I LIKE the secret ballot, have had it most of my life, and know 
many others have similar desires for good reason.  That thought 
inspired my words at the top.
      Vote buying needs discouraging, but I concede perfection is less 
essential here.

Voting by mail requires humans obeying rules.  I believe the rules in 
NY still require placing the ballots in an anonymous stack without 
humans reading their content while having the voter's identity associated.
-- 
  davek at clarityconnect.com    people.clarityconnect.com/webpages3/davek
  Dave Ketchum   108 Halstead Ave, Owego, NY  13827-1708   607-687-5026
            Do to no one what you would not want done to you.
                  If you want peace, work for justice.