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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPaper ballots are hack-proof. It's time to bring them back.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/06/25/paper-ballots-hackproof-bring-them-back-glenn-reynoldscolumn/416652001/Paper ballots are hack-proof. It's time to bring them back.
Glenn Harlan Reynolds, Opinion columnist 1:44 p.m. ET June 25, 2017
We like to tell citizens that every vote counts. But actually, no vote counts unless it is counted.
Ive been talking about the importance of protecting against voting-machine hacks since 2002. And now, finally, people are starting to take me seriously.
The move to paperless voting started in response to the Florida hanging chad fiasco in the 2000 presidential election. Some people (like me) thought this was a mistake, but such concerns were often dismissed. Now, apparently, you cant be paranoid enough. As Politicos Bob King noted, while 10 years ago critics of paperless voting were called paranoid, now both parties are worried.
It remains true that there is no actual evidence that a single vote was changed by hackers in the 2016 election. But even the possibility of hacking has served to promote the sort of conspiracy-mongering and political hatred that led to, for example, the shooting attack on Republican lawmakers last week. In a democratic polity, people have to believe that their votes are counted honestly, or the legitimacy of the system collapses.
And if we are to believe the latest NSA leaks on the subject, Russian (and other) hackers have been interested in American voting systems for a while, and that interest contrary to Obama Administration assurances didnt decline after Obama made a red phone call to the Kremlin. (Perhaps even more troubling, many cyberattacks on state voting systems came from Department of Homeland Security computers.
So what should we do? Well, we could try to boost our cybersecurity, but given that the NSA, the FBI and the CIA are leaking important secrets on a daily basis, maybe were not up to that job. So, once again, let me suggest that we return to something that, by its very nature, cant be hacked by a guy in St. Petersburg: Paper ballots.
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https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/06/25/paper-ballots-hackproof-bring-them-back-glenn-reynoldscolumn/416652001/
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)Germany:
- You get added automatically to the voter-rolls when getting an ID.
- When moving to another town, you have to go to the municipal office to register who you are and where you live now. The voter-rolls get updated there and then.
- Election-notification by mail 1 month ahead of election.
- Elections always on Sundays.
- Need the notification and ID to prove who you are.
- Ballots are pen&paper.
- Counted by hand. You may stay to watch the counting, as long as you don't disturb the officials. You may set up a camera to document the counting, as long as the camera does not do close-ups of ballots.
- Voting-places close at 6pm. The "Preliminary Official Result", comes at 8pm. The "Final Official Result" the next day.
FakeNoose
(32,645 posts)The Wielding Truth
(11,415 posts)blueinredohio
(6,797 posts)FakeNoose
(32,645 posts)The Russians can't hack our system if we go dark for one day. After the votes have been counted and reported, turn it back on again and there's nothing they can switch at that point.
I believe paper ballots are the best solution, but we need vigilance (always!) during the counting. Bi-partisan counting and reporting only, in every county and polling place.