I cannot let this day go by without expressing a grave concern about our voting process. We profess an almost sacred belief in our right to vote and that every vote be counted. (I know there are those who assert we have no constitutional "right" to vote, so that aside) We are currently at war to liberate Iraq and give them the right to vote. We brag that we succeeded in bringing the vote to Afghanistan. We have sent representatives to young democracies or ones in trouble to insure that elections are held in a safe and fair manner. So what about us????????
Reports of intentional voter fraud or interference are rampant. A small percentage of error is always likely to occur by failures of the system but .....
that aside. I will not excuse either the dems or the repubs, whether the fraud was an "inside job" or outsourced. In some precincts on the spot challengers can dispute a persons right to vote. Already, there is speculation that there will be legally disputed results in today's election if the vote appears close.
So the problem clearly exists within our system. We should all make it a priority to standardize voter registration, voting registration could be both a national registration system and a state/precinct level. Much like a social security number a voter could be assigned a voter card....like a credit card with a voter ID number.....Anyone who has previously established themselves (registered)as a voter at the local level using thier "voter ID" would be almost transparent to this system but a voter with no traceable registration could vote their "provisional ballot" . (I personally dont agree with this concept, I would require pre registration of at least 4 weeks prior to an election.... anyone who cant get it together by some established deadline just loses out, its their own fault. ) The voter ID system could be used to determine the validity of a provisonal ballot.
The device used to vote is also in great dispute. I know of one successful method.....A paper ballot that has circles to be filled in with pencil (our old high school SAT's) This ballot is inserted into a machine that reads it right at the polling location....if it is read successfully the paper ballot is kept for any recounts and the electronic data stored in the machine is readily available for a speedy count when the polls close. A ballot that cannot be read for some reason or another is immediately referred to the judge at the polling location and usually the problem can be resolved or, as an alternate solution ,the paper ballot can be separated to be manually counted later. Sure there can be problems with any system. I think the actual ballot should be kept simple and the tabulation should be done ,with oversight, using our best technology.
This is an issue that could unite all of us. It serves both sides equally well. We all want to be sure our vote counts and the best way to do that is to make sure everyones vote counts.
Reports of intentional voter fraud or interference are rampant. A small percentage of error is always likely to occur by failures of the system but .....
that aside. I will not excuse either the dems or the repubs, whether the fraud was an "inside job" or outsourced. In some precincts on the spot challengers can dispute a persons right to vote. Already, there is speculation that there will be legally disputed results in today's election if the vote appears close.
So the problem clearly exists within our system. We should all make it a priority to standardize voter registration, voting registration could be both a national registration system and a state/precinct level. Much like a social security number a voter could be assigned a voter card....like a credit card with a voter ID number.....Anyone who has previously established themselves (registered)as a voter at the local level using thier "voter ID" would be almost transparent to this system but a voter with no traceable registration could vote their "provisional ballot" . (I personally dont agree with this concept, I would require pre registration of at least 4 weeks prior to an election.... anyone who cant get it together by some established deadline just loses out, its their own fault. ) The voter ID system could be used to determine the validity of a provisonal ballot.
The device used to vote is also in great dispute. I know of one successful method.....A paper ballot that has circles to be filled in with pencil (our old high school SAT's) This ballot is inserted into a machine that reads it right at the polling location....if it is read successfully the paper ballot is kept for any recounts and the electronic data stored in the machine is readily available for a speedy count when the polls close. A ballot that cannot be read for some reason or another is immediately referred to the judge at the polling location and usually the problem can be resolved or, as an alternate solution ,the paper ballot can be separated to be manually counted later. Sure there can be problems with any system. I think the actual ballot should be kept simple and the tabulation should be done ,with oversight, using our best technology.
This is an issue that could unite all of us. It serves both sides equally well. We all want to be sure our vote counts and the best way to do that is to make sure everyones vote counts.
