How Would You Change U.S. Election Procedures?

kkrista asks: "Ignoring for a moment your opinions on the outcome of the presidential election, what do you feel can be done to improve polling procedures in the U.S.? Verifiable votes seem an obvious necessity, but what else? It seems to me that standardized Federal election procedures would help ensure a fair election." Read on for some of kkrista's ideas -- do you have any better ones?

"How about a credit card-style voter registration card that I have to swipe in order to verify that I am eligible to vote? Such a card could be used to present custom electronic ballots to voters so they do not have to physically vote in their home districts (one could be away on business and within the country's borders or even at an embassy in a foreign country and still vote without an absentee ballot). Federal standards would also put the burden of maintaining proper voting facilities on the Federal government, helping to alleviate issues that can arise with insufficient equipment in less affluent or populous districts. The idea is not to centralize the voting regulations that are currently in place in each state, but rather to centralize and unify the mechanics of casting a vote. Your thoughts?"

Comments

Leave it alone

[duffbeer703]

The system works, let it be.

Nobody wants a fiasco in their state, so the states are individually reforming the system to avoid a situation like the one in Florida in 2000.

It takes time, anything involving government does.

The last thing that we need is yet another massive Federal program with arbritrary rules and unfunded mandates.

Standardized X

[rueger]

Uniform voting regulations across the country (I know, states rights etc) and a good old paper ballot. This should be simple.

It's insane that each of thousands of states and counties have different rules, different technology, different everything.

And, as the latest irregularities show, there is simply nothing as useful as a simple and unambiguous paper trail.

Oh yeah - and better candidates.

Re:Standardized X

[WhiplashII]

In addition to standardizing things - improve the standard. Require the ballot to have a short description of each candidate, including who they are and what their platform is.

Most people know the presidential candidates, but who knew the options for their District Court Judge, comptroller, etc?

What is the impetus?

[revscat]

The only problem with changing the electoral system is that there is never any groundswell of support for such an idea. Who is going to implement it, the Republicans? They're control the entire federal government, and have learned how to game the current system to their advantage. Changing that would risk their power base.

This is not going to happen without widespread and energetic grassroots support and, in the case of Diebold and other unverifiable voting systems, possibly bloodshed. Neither seems likely when "The OC" is on TV tonight.

Weekend Voting

[Lomby]

The USA could begin by making people vote on Saturday and Sunday. Many countries vote on these days: people tend to have more time during the weekend.

A unified voting procedure also helps: just as an example you can then use national television to illustrate the voting procedure.

Re:Let France elect the US president!

[MindStalker]

Yes, of course, brilliant. Any country can count its population and be assigned an amount of electoral votes!!

Of course the countries have to may tax, and the states need to conform to our constituion.

Did I say states? Opps.

Re:Voter Verifiable Voting

[NoBeardPete]

This is a _terrible_ idea. If voters walk out of the voting booth with a receipt that says how they voted, you've just enabled everyone who might want to pressure, bribe, or influence voters. Domineering husbands will demand that their cowed wives vote the "right" way, and then offer proof of it when they get home. Employers will give bonuses to employees who proove they voted a certain way. Religious figures will deny services to people who voted "wrong". In areas with a poor police presence, gangs will demand to see your receipt and beat you up if you can't prove you voted the way they want.

It's a deliberate feature of our voting system that after you leave the voting booth, there is no way that anyone can gain knowledge of how you voted. This enables people to vote their concience. It makes it almost impossible to harass or reward someone based on how they voted. To change this would be a disaster.

Make Elections Transparent and Unriggable

[natoochtoniket]

A substantial fraction (nearly half) of the USA population is convinced that the last presidential election was rigged. I have a Ph.D. in computer science -- and I am almost certain that this election was rigged. That is a recipe for disaster. It doesn't really matter whether or not the past election was really rigged. What really matters is that it clearly could have been, and many people believe that it was.

For the government to be stable, we need the vast majority of people to believe that the elections are fair and honest. When some of the people believe that the election is rigged, those same people are likely to seek an alternative way to force power away from the people who rigged the election. We see that happen in other countries, every year. It's called an assasination, or a revolution, or a civil war. Whatever you call it, it is messy and bloody, and there is only one way to avoid it. That way is to make the election process so transparent and honest that everyone can be certain that it is honest.

I have read that there are four boxes to use in defense of liberty: Soap; Ballot; Jury; Ammo. The first two have now failed. It's time for the third. If the legal process fails to correct the election process in this country, then it may be time for the fourth. I sincerely hope that the fourth box will not be necessary.

The details of the election process matter, but not nearly as much as the transparency. Paper ballots go a long way to make elections transparent. Paper ballots provide evidence that can be examined if the election is disputed. Registration requirements have been used to disenfranchise people, so registration should be eliminated. Inking the thumb of each voter provides a transparent way of being sure that no one votes multiple times. Electronic machinery can be useful, to provide handicap access or save labor, but only to the extent that it does not reduce honesty or transparency. Other mechanisms may also be useful, but each should be judged by the extent to which it improves honesty and transparency.

Rigging or attempting to rig an election should be a capital crime, even for minor conspirators and accomplices, and even for minor local elections.