Cost is the key factor
on
eLection '04
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· Score: 1
You're missing the key point. Cost. You want to jump from pen and paper (or punch cards) straight to computerized tallies. I agree with all the points made regarding security, feasability, etc. but it would just be too expensive for many parts of the country.
I remember when I was a little kid years ago and my mother or father would drag me along when they went to vote. They had the booth with the sliding curtain and levers to move in order to select your candidates. Then when you pulled the Big Red Lever to open the curtain, your choices were recorded and the levers reset themselves. I thought ALL places voted like this using similar machines. I was SHOCKED when I discovered that in many parts of the country people actually were still using paper and depositing their ballots in actual *boxes*. That struck me as absurdly backwards.
Then I came to realize that those machines cost money and since elections are basically state-by-state, county-by-county affairs that not every county could afford those machines. Levels of government above the county level don't just buy them for you. I guess the real question is how much would a computerized system cost? Could they be produced for less than the cost of a mechanical booth with levers? Even if they could, and it might be possible, you would still have to convince the local election boards to buy them. They've avoided the "standard" voting booths because of cost issues. What makes you think they'll spring for computerized systems?
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You're missing the key point. Cost. You want to jump from pen and paper (or punch cards) straight to computerized tallies. I agree with all the points made regarding security, feasability, etc. but it would just be too expensive for many parts of the country.
I remember when I was a little kid years ago and my mother or father would drag me along when they went to vote. They had the booth with the sliding curtain and levers to move in order to select your candidates. Then when you pulled the Big Red Lever to open the curtain, your choices were recorded and the levers reset themselves. I thought ALL places voted like this using similar machines. I was SHOCKED when I discovered that in many parts of the country people actually were still using paper and depositing their ballots in actual *boxes*. That struck me as absurdly backwards.
Then I came to realize that those machines cost money and since elections are basically state-by-state, county-by-county affairs that not every county could afford those machines. Levels of government above the county level don't just buy them for you. I guess the real question is how much would a computerized system cost? Could they be produced for less than the cost of a mechanical booth with levers? Even if they could, and it might be possible, you would still have to convince the local election boards to buy them. They've avoided the "standard" voting booths because of cost issues. What makes you think they'll spring for computerized systems?