We don't need a "paper trail" on an electronic voting machine.

[SoCalDem]

We NEED a simplified NATIONAL officeholder ballot..

If the states want to buy diamond-encrusted, solid platinum DREs, then LET them...

They can use them for electing their city council, dogcatcher,and mayors....BUT..


For offices on the national stage, there MUST be a ballot that is EASY to understand..Recountable, and UNIFORM...


It would be the size of a 5 x 7 notecard.. It would only need to accomodate THREE races (TWO in off years)..

1...president

2...senate

3...congress

People do not take to the streets or threaten each other because "measure F" or proposition 70 fail.. They go ballistic, when they suspect that cheating occured, and they got the "wrong" president..

No matter what party you are, you want your vote to count..

and another thing..

If we do NOT have a national voter database, with unique "voter ID numbers", we will NEVER even begin to stop vote fraud...so for people who get upset about the national ID thing, you are providing "cover" for the crooks who know you get "edgy" about it, and that's just the way they like it..:(

[DoBotherMe]

1. I think so too ...

the absentee ballot in my state was huge and 4 pages long. I voted on the national and state elections and a local referendum, the rest I ignored.

[Kazak]

2. I agree.

Also, I've never once been ID'd, or even had to show my voter registration card where I vote.

[baldguy]

3. There were like 50 or 60 people running for president.

They weren't all listed in every state, but they were running. Who gets to decide who is on the ballot?

I do think the whole process has to be simplified, standardized & - most important - opened up to public scrutiny. But states are jealous of what power they have.

[SoCalDem]

4. They would lose NO power..

and you CAN fit a lot of names on a 5 x 7 card...

I do not appreciate having to suffer throough 8 years of the WRONG guy, because a few states cannot get their shit together..

[BootinUp]

5. On another forum

I just stated some thoughts on how to make electronic voting more secure on another forum:

systems meet federal standards established by group of experts from the computer and security industries.

voting machines are stand alone, not networked, database is digitally signed by the machine for authentication (to prevent alteration) prior to being transferred to an optical disc for transportation to a central location for tallying all machines votes. The central location is monitored by all parties representatives. A backup copy with the same digital signature is under lock and key at another location. Paper printouts serve as a second backup.

I think we should realize that computers have been used for some time to tally and maintain vote counts. And paper ballots can be damaged, discarded, lost, unreadable, etc. I am in favor of properly designed electronic voting systems.

[Zimpy.com]

6. they need to start by...

...not using machines created by four different companies, all of who have ties to the Bush administration, and/or donated to Bush's campaign! Once the corruption is gone, then standardized ballots would the obvious next step.