Nov 3 2008
Election Officials Ditch the Computer Ballot
There were reports of electronic machines switching votes last week because the machines weren't correctly calibrated. Given the problems people have had with the computerized voting machines, some states are returning to the tried and true voting method – paper ballots. This lead to the headline at Ars Technica of "Paper Ballot: The New Killer App. "
I do wonder why we can't have some uniform voting ballot system wherein a state can opt out as long as they prove that they have a superior method that has greater safe guards to protect a person's vote. There's little that can go wrong with the No. 2 pencil, right?
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Nov 03, 2008 @ 12:19:49
NM returned to paper ballots a few years ago. While they don’t have quite the same cachet as going into an actual voting booth, they can use the same ballot for absentee, early voting and on-the-day-of. Also, good to have that paper trail, I’m thinking.
Nov 03, 2008 @ 12:36:04
We’ve never had computer ballots here in my little town in SE WI. Always paper. You finish the arrow with a black marker to show who you are voting for.
I live in such a small town that the longest line I’ve waited in to vote was 3 people long!! And we have a 92% or higher voter turnout! LOL
Nov 03, 2008 @ 13:33:58
This week I was in a smallish town on the Ohio River. The hotel’s lobby had a view of the county early voting office. There was a line out the door and half a block long there the entire time the poll was open from the morning we arrived until the afternoon we left. One of the locals told me this was highly unusual.
I’ve never had to wait long at my polling place so I’m curious to see if that is going to be different this year.
Nov 03, 2008 @ 15:59:29
I voted last Monday in early voting in GA. I’ve been voting since I was 18 and this is the first time I’ve ever had to wait in line. I brought water and snacks and handed them out to older folks who were waiting. We had to wait for two hours. I had my husband and son with me.
This was my first time voting with electronic machines, back in AL we always had the paper ballots. I definitely prefer those. I had to touch the screen several times to register my vote. I don’t get why in this modern age we can’t seem to come up with a quick and easy method of voting.