I have to confess. I hate Diebald voting machines.

[Dinner]

So the reliable old scantron voting machines have been replaced by unaccountable Diebald electionic voting machines in San Diego. The old machines had voters use a #2 pencil (provided) to fill in extremely large boxes (made large so all people could see them clearly) and then a scantron machine counted the ballot before the voter left giving the voter a reciept so that s/he could review the vote before s/he left. That system was done away with and replaced with the contraversial Diebald voting machines which have been proven to be hackable and unsafe.

At the last minute the state ordered Diebald to install a paper printer so that ballots could be recounted should the vote be tampered with, however, voters are NEVER allowed to review the actual printed record so there is no assurances that the people who the voters vote for actually is what is printed. The openness for electronic voter fraud and abuse should be clear. I myself found the Diebald touch screens to be unreliable. Three times on two different offices I touched the screen to indicate I voted for the Democrat and on each of those times I saw my vote switch to the Republican. On two of those times the Republican was two spots below the Democrat yet my vote STILL switched to the Republican!

I caught all three times since I knew Diebald machines were faulty but I doubt all voters did. Unlike others I do not believe Diebald deliberately favors Republicans; I just think they make faulty and completely unreliable electronic voting machines which should NEVER be used in any election. Unfortunately, the Republicans controlled Congress has virtually mandated Diebald machines in every Federal election in the US. The very fact that I can NEVER see what the machine prints and claims is my voting record is a problem as is the fact which Diebald machines have been proven to be be easily hackable so that the voting record is easily changed by anyone with a internet access and a disire to do so means Diebald machines cannot be trusted.

With something as important as or god given right to vote I would think people would be more concerned but it appears making sure votes count and that the counted votes were actually what voters intended is not a priority for the Republican controlled Congress. I doubt Democrats can change this since they control just half of the Congress and the Republicans controll the other 2.5 branches of government. In short, I am losing my faith that America's democracy is actually free and fair.

[Dinner]

For those of you wondering yesterday was the first day I ever voted on a Diebald machine. I was left believing that the vote was less safe then with the old system because I could NEVER verify that the printed record was printing exactly what I was telling it to print. I'm especially concerned since there have been so many reports that the Diebald machines were unsafe, easily hackable, and completely unreliable. The solution is to change the voting methods back to a system such as the scantron forms which voters in places like California have always used. The current Congressionally mandated use of Diebald machines is onerous especially since the owner of Diebald is such an outspoken Republican and that he has donated such vast amounts of money to the Republican controlled Congress. It is simply an unsafe way for our nation to vote.
__________________

[SlowwHand]

"god given right to vote" ?

Kind of funny.

[Asher]

It's Diebold...

[Sava]

Originally posted by Asher
It's Diebold...

No. Oerdin likes the Diebold machines. He hates the Diebald ones.





They must be knockoffs from Hong Kong.

[PLATO]

Originally posted by Sava


No. Oerdin likes the Diebold machines. He hates the Diebald ones.





They must be knockoffs from Hong Kong.

anti sino-ite.

[Sava]

Originally posted by PLATO


anti sino-ite.

I've uncovered evidence of a Chinese conspiracy aimed at disenfranchising men with hair loss.

[Zkribbler]

I too vote against electronic voting machines and thinning hair.

[BeBMan]

Yeah, more people should learn from the Terminator movies!

[MikeH]

We use (uniquely numbered) paper ballots, that people write X on in pencil and that are then counted by hand by actual genuine humans.

I like it as a system. Sure, it has it's problems, but at least you have a very clear paper trail.

[Pekka]

only backwards countries use something else than paper and pen.

Good luck with propietary software and no right to know how it works

[PLATO]

I heard somewhere that Venezuela controls like 70% of the voting machine companies in the US.

So, how do we like Hugo Chavez deciding our elections?

[Ming]

We've come a long way from parties stuffing ballot boxes

[MOBIUS]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
"god given right to vote" ?

Kind of funny.

Indeed, how could something that doesn't exist create the 'right to vote'...

[Solver]

American voting is too complex . Some sort of voter registration, or what have you, machines that don't work properly... here, all it takes me is to go to a precinct, have my name recorded, put a ballot in the envelope, that's it. No registration, no waiting for the voting machine to reboot or such .