Reply #22: My dream election system...

[jhgatiss]

First, consider scrapping registration altogether. I learned recently that in many other countries registration is not required. If not scrapped altogether, we should have a national database that serves as a clearinghouse for changing registrations between states and counties. Voter roles in this country are not as well maintained as they should be and that is another potential source of fraud. Also, consider mandatory election day registration. I for one feel that a photo ID should be used when voting. I know there is a lot of controversy about this but it would really cut down on the possibility of fraud. I would like to see this linked to state driver's licenses/ID cards or freebie cards from BOE offices for people who have neither of the others. Everyone would receive a PIN number that they would use just like the ATM machine. On election day, people would go to their polling place and they would slide their card into the machine and enter their pin number. You could even potentially do away with precincts altogether if the machines were either on a closed, secure network or the votes had some identifier number on them. That way, when votes are tabulated, it could ensure that duplicate votes are disregarded. When your vote is entered, two receipts print out, one for yourself and one for the records. One is dropped into the ballot box for potential paper ballot recounts while the other is retained by you. Each vote could be associated to your voter ID number or each vote could have a unique random number on your receipt that could later allow you to verify your vote was recorded as cast on the internet or via telephone. If at all possible, I think the whole system should be built on open source code that can be fully vetted by independent computer experts. I also think that transmittal of data over phone lines or the internet should be avoided. The machines should use memory devices that have unique serial numbers on them which are recorded at the beginning and end of each election day. This would provide an audit later to ensure memory cards were not swapped. And even if they were, eagle-eyed voters confirming their votes later would identify the offending precinct and the paper ballots could be consulted. (I would also make the paper ballots have bar codes encoding the votes so a speedy machine count could be performed in cases of machine malfunctions in the memory cards.) I agree that a 1% recount of the paper ballots as mandated currently in California I believe should be performed in every election as a verification of the results. I agree that election day should be considered to be moved to a holiday or weekend day to prevent disenfranchisement of those who have to work during the week. However, I feel that early voting may be a better all around solution because no matter when you move the election day - there will always be someone that will need to work on that day. Absentee and mail voting, while potential sources of fraud, will likely be necessary for the foreseeable future to accommodate the elderly or disabled. My preference would be to see as many of those people as possible accommodated by early voting with an honest evaluation of an internet or phone voting system. This system could be isolated from the central tabulation system and be secured and audited with different standards. Another thought is that perhaps people should be mailed confirmations when their absentee ballots are received. This would ensure that if someone fraudulently voted for someone else, that someone would receive the verification and could notify the proper authorities of the fraud.