Slashdot Mirror


How We Used To Vote

Mr. Slippery writes "Think hanging chads, illegal purges of the voter rolls, and insecure voting machines are bad? The New Yorker looks back at how we used to vote back in the good old days: 'A man carrying a musket rushed at him. Another threw a brick, knocking him off his feet. George Kyle picked himself up and ran. He never did cast his vote. Nor did his brother, who died of his wounds. The Democratic candidate for Congress, William Harrison, lost to the American Party's Henry Winter Davis. Three months later, when the House of Representatives convened hearings into the election, whose result Harrison contested, Davis's victory was upheld on the ground that any "man of ordinary courage" could have made his way to the polls.' Now I feel like a wuss for complaining about the lack of a voter-verified paper trail." The article notes the American penchant for trying to fix voting problems with technology — starting just after the Revolution. This country didn't use secret ballots, an idea imported from Australia, until quite late in the 19th century.

3 of 517 comments (clear)

  1. no excuses by Digitus1337 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Think hanging chads, illegal purges of the voter rolls, and insecure voting machines are bad?

    Yes.

  2. Re:I voted in this manner... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This doesn't make any sense. No one thought to call the state police, FBI or the media?

    More importantly, these statements don't add up:

    There were no republicans running in our little township

    They also explained how important it was to vote democrat

    If no republicans are running, then why go to all the effort?

    Something smells in your story.

  3. Re:Congress by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Well to be fair the UK's House of Lords is an unelected body that holds no accountability to anyone and they've looked out for the "average Joe" way more than the elected and accountable house of commons.

    You'd be surprised how honest people can be when their job doesn't rely on what the average dimwit thinks.