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Offline The GrimSqueaker

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Voting
« on: March 26, 2016, 07:30:00 PM »
I was most impressed with the recent Kiwi referendum about our flag with how easy and comprehensive the voting options were. Each voting slip had an individual ID number and QR block on it sent to you as a registered voter. Then you were able to either drop it off, mail it, fax it, or take a picture of it and upload it to a government server.

Simple, clean, and available to all.

Hopefully an example for the future compared to waiting in line for hours at a time, politely queuing, hoping they either don't close the polls or run out of bullamphetamine parrot paper documents that should have been discarded as a relic of the 60's.
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Offline Grand Master Lomandalis

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Re: Voting
« Reply #1 on: March 26, 2016, 07:32:00 PM »
... or run out of bullamphetamine parrot paper documents that should have been discarded as a relic of the 60's.
That may or may not be premarked, potentially leading to a vote being spoiled or counted for an option you didn't vote for.
If there is anything that recent politics has taught us, it is that quotes taken out of context can mean what ever you want them to.
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Offline The GrimSqueaker

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Re: Voting
« Reply #2 on: March 26, 2016, 07:39:08 PM »
Even then, still better that the absolutely obsolete punch card system. I mean, what the blue bloody bollocking hell is that about? Add mechanical failure along with manual incompetence? Excellent plan.
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Offline Calamity

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Re: Voting
« Reply #3 on: March 26, 2016, 07:40:46 PM »
This sounds much better than the current systems.  Might help cut down on irregularities too.

Offline Grand Master Lomandalis

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Re: Voting
« Reply #4 on: March 27, 2016, 12:32:52 AM »
I did get a kick out of the Daily Show episode a few days ago where they had the Prime Minister of Estonia on.  For such a small country, they are doing so much right that many others should emulate.  Hell, they have online voting that is secure and effective.
If there is anything that recent politics has taught us, it is that quotes taken out of context can mean what ever you want them to.
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Offline Wyddr

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Re: Voting
« Reply #5 on: March 28, 2016, 01:40:44 PM »
The problem with electronic or online voting systems is (and always has been) the possibility for fraud. It is far, far more likely somebody could tamper with electronic voting results than with paper ballots. Of course, having sufficient paper ballots to cover turnout is why you need a competent and well-funded elections department, which sadly isn't the case everywhere.

Now, mailing in a ballot with a QR code is a bit different. Early voting is legal in the US, too - you get a ballot, you fill it out, you mail it in. That's a reasonable solution to people being unable to make the polls. Of course that, too, is more prone to fraud simply because there isn't a cop standing there to make sure there aren't any shenanigans.

Where I live (Massachusetts), I've never in my life had to wait in line more than ten or fifteen minutes to vote. Ballots are filled in with felt-tip pen (like a Scantron test, except not with #2 pencils). It's always run smoothly and professionally and I've felt secure in my vote being counted. Not everywhere, though, is so fortunate.

Offline Sir_Godspeed

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Re: Voting
« Reply #6 on: March 28, 2016, 04:16:08 PM »
We've had electronic voting here for a few years now, and it's going fine, really. But then we're not the gargantuan monster of a body politic that the US is.

Offline Wyddr

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Re: Voting
« Reply #7 on: March 29, 2016, 08:54:05 AM »
We've had electronic voting here for a few years now, and it's going fine, really. But then we're not the gargantuan monster of a body politic that the US is.

It would *probably* be fine here, too, though elections law in most states is really, really itchy about any possible tampering (and, as it stands, ballot tampering and fraud are both super, super rare here). One main obstacle (beyond simple mistrust) is that it isn't the federal government but rather the individual states who set election standards. This makes the system wildly uneven, as some states run perfectly fine elections (my own, for instance) and then other places it's a total amphetamine parrotshow (Ohio, Florida).

So, if some states decide to go electronic, this is going to bother the other states (how can we trust those inept Ohio-ans, after all?) and, even if all states were to do it, there wouldn't be a uniform system. Hence, nobody would trust what anybody else was doing.

At least with paper ballots you've got actual, physical evidence of voting. It's a pain in the ass, yeah, but it's hard to get more reliable than that. You know, barring the eternal danger of morons.

 


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