Bloge Stage Four

We should not trust electronic voting systems. A paper ballot is tangible and should be used, or at least we should be given a paper receipt. Any one of the many problems associated with the eSlate systems will inaccurately tally our votes. Such problems have occurred. For example, voter Jan Dawes read on an electronic screen (after casting her vote), “Reconnect to system to record vote.” She was left wondering if other voters did not catch the same recording error, and their ballot might not have been counted. Travis County officials say, “Machines are superior to paper ballots because they are faster, save time and money.” But, what is a little extra money to ensure an honest and accurate vote for every citizen? Electronic votes are not reliable. Something as simple as a receipt would require a little extra cash, but would be much more dependable in terms of verifying every vote. I agree with Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project, who says, “If you have a challenge, there are no real independent ballots to recount.” When there are problems such as corruption or a glitch in the system or a technical malfunction, having no hard copy records to recount would surely leave us with inaccurate tallies representing the people’s choice.
Hart InterCivic spokesman Peter Lichtenheld says, “The printer has several disadvantages. It adds the cost of paper, poll workers must be trained to use and fix it, and it adds time.” The cheap fast way is not the best way to accurately account for each vote. It takes time to get the job done right. Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir says, “Travis County hasn’t encountered the snafus that have plagued other places. The machines are subjected to ‘logic and accuracy testing.’” Testing is a good way to find problems, but some glitches may not be found for many years. In terms of corruption DeBeauvoir says, “It’s not a Microsoft-based system which reduces the risk of someone who knows Windows being able to affect machines.” In my eyes an electronic “1” can easily be changed into a “10” by the click of a button. It may not be as simple as that, but I am sure I am not far off from how the tallies could actually be changed. Something as simple as a receipt for official records would greatly improve the reliability of electronic voting systems.