Hardly Anyone Cares About Computer Voting Problems

Avidwriter writes "It's a sad thought that Roblimo explores in a NewsForge article about computer voting fraud and how you'd think all honest politicians would be working to make sure computerized voting systems are open source, and why open source wouldn't hurt well-run voting machine companies' profits. Not that most people care, since they don't even bother to vote, right?"

Comments

For some backround to why this is how things are..

[nagisa_kaworu]

check out www.fromthewilderness.com.

In other news:

[Mikey-San]

The Earth revolves around the Sun.

Birds can fly.

There is still no cure for cancer.

And a bunch of other painfully obvious stuff happened.

Raise your hand if any of this surprised you. If so, please move to the back of the classroom. Thank you. ;-)

Has the world ended? Google is down!

[release7]

Check http://www.google.com, quick!

Oh, is this off topic? Sorry. Guess no one cares about voting.

Re:in australia I hear they have mandatory voting

[gantrep]

I'm not one of those jackasses that prefaces his statements with "In my personal opinion..."

Of COURSE, self-determination is one of the most important principles of civilization. The Australian people have the right to have whatever kind of government they wish, even one that takes away rights that I would consider to be fundamental.

As to "Where do you pull this from?" Well, it really doesn't matter. An opinion is an opinion, I did not make a statement of fact, and therefore I don't have to justify it. However, since you seem to think that what I've expressed is some kind of new idea you've never heard of before, I'll try to point you to places where similar sentiments can be found.

First, from dictionary.com, one of the definitions of "liberty":

"The condition of being physically and legally free from confinement, servitude, or forced labor. See Synonyms at freedom."

From the American Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness..."

From the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States:

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves..."

Those Constitution and Declaration were written under much influence of Locke and Blackstone. Contemporaries who feel much the same can be found in the Libertatian Party and among the followers of Ayn Rand's Objectivism.

Re:in australia I hear they have mandatory voting

[Slurpee]

I was wondering why you were applying the values of the government of the USA (and thus hopefully the citizens of the USA) to the Australian government (and citizens). IE, by saying that the Australian government is in dereliction of its duties because it does not follow the US constitution (or bill of rights, or declaration of independance).

You are quite correct in saying that the government of the USA defines "Liberty" as being one of those rights it must defend. It is a matter of opinion (or interpretation) if an American's liberty is infringed by being made to vote (or go on jury duty). I have no arguement here. But you can't apply the US constitution, declaration of independance, or bill of rights to other countries. These things apply only to the USA, and do not define what another government's "duties" are.

It is possible the Australian people think the Australian government should force people to vote. In this case, the Australian government is fulfilling its duties, not neglecting them.