Resolved: The Country Should Return To Paper Ballots & Accept That It Takes A Week To Count Them

[stopbush]

Isn't part of the allure of machine voting that we get the results quickly? Well, that certainly wasn't the case the last TWO times around, was it?

Outside of the MSM and their desire to call the race as quickly as possible on election night, who really cares if it took a week or even two weeks to count paper ballots, especially if it gave a more-accurate tally? One would hope that accuracy took precedence over expediency.

2012 isn't that far off. Paper ballots are the way to go next time. Perhaps the Obama administration can do something about this.

[elizfeelinggreat]

1. I want paper but I don't see why it should take a week

Doesn't Canada do it faster than a week?

Also, I don't think using a machine to count paper ballots is a bad idea as long as you have the originals and can do a recount.

[LSparkle]

6. Fewer ballots to count in Canada ... but we could do it in a day or so

What would be so wrong with having a weekend of voting
(having the polls open on both Saturday and Sunday),
and ballots hopefully counted by Tuesday and Wednesday?
It's kind of like Christmas vs. Hanukkah: I always envied
my Jewish friends who got to spread their holiday out
over 8 nights, as opposed us to Christians who just
had it over all at once. What's wrong with a little
SUSPENSE, people? (Especially if the results are
MORE RELIABLE ... ask President Gore about that!)

[stopbush]

8. Yep. Voting should take place as a 3-day weekend event.

Fri, Sat & Sun or Sat, Sun Mon.

[depakid]

13. Not just fewer ballots- fewer entries on the ballots

LOTS fewer entries.

[zanne]

2. I second that motion.

I don't care how many people would have to be hired to count votes, as long as they all count. Patience is a virtue that Americans don't have much of, but we can learn.

[elizfeelinggreat]

3. .

sorry, duplicate post

[liberal renegade]

4. I can't ever remember it taking a week

to count the ballots. In fact I remember as a kid the results being known before bedtime.

[stopbush]

5. They used to project off the hard count of paper ballots.

They could do it again.

[Cirque du So-What]

7. Why not have early voting nationwide?

That way, at least some of the long lines on election day could be alleviated. We as Democrats need to work to get early voting in whatever states we reside.

[Lifetimedem]

9. agreed

I would think that a ballot marked with a #2 pencil could be machine read quickly with a manual read later..

[Hangingon]

10. Vote on Tuesday and announce count on Friday.

That would take care of the network announcements the winner based on East coast results before West coast polls closed. I should just mention that voter fraud did not begin with mechanical or electronic voting equipment.

[democrattotheend]

12. No way. I think I'd go nuts

And I don't really trust paper ballots either...in fact, I tend to have more faith in machines, since most humans who would count the ballots would have their own partisan preferences and I could easily see some funny business happening in some places.

[DeschutesRiver]

11. We already voted by mail here

it came to my house; I was able to study all the ballot issues throughly, and make my selections at my own pace. No lines, no weather considerations, no discomfort. I do this every time there is a ballot to vote.

Sure, there is always a potential for corruption, but I don't think it is all that much more so than with the voting at the poll deal. I now understand from watching the early voting crowd that any chance of fudging with mail in ballots is more than outweighed by what is happening when all these people want to vote, but can't do it on one single day, or can't wait in long lines. They simply don't vote, and that is worse for a society than taking care of the inevitable fraud here or there

I think mail in ballots should also be considered as one option.

[davidwparker]

14. Germany is suppose to have paper ballot and they know that evening who

won due to exit polling. German math is apparently more evolved than ours.

When they actually do finish counting, they confirm the exit polls.

[Hangingon]

17. Germany has a population of only 84 million and is in 1 time zone.

Who trusts exit polls?

[Dinger]

15. K & R

[randr]

16. If we can count all the money spent in countless manners each day

there is not one reason we could not create a system to count all the votes cast once every four years.
The same people make the ATM that make the voting machines and they never lose one red cent.
It is a bald face lie that it is too complicated and can't be done.
I want our new congress and president to address this situation immediately!