A Flawed US Election Reform Bill

H.R.811 sounds great: It's stated purpose is "to require a voter-verified permanent paper ballot." Unfortunately, it sounds like the details have some devils, as usual. From the Bev Harris article Is a flawed bill better than no bill?: "[T]he Holt Bill provides for a paper trail (toilet paper roll-style records affixed to DRE voting machines) in 2008, requires more durable ballots in 2010, and requires a complex set of audits. It also cements and further empowers a concentration of power over elections under the White House, gives explicit federal sanction to trade secrets in vote counting, mandates an expensive 'text conversion' device that does not yet exist which is not fully funded, and removes 'safe harbor' for states in a way that opens them up to unlimited, expensive, and destabilizing litigation." Update: 07/11 16:23 GMT by KD : Derek Slater writes "EFF's e-voting expert Matt Zimmerman recently published this article separating the myths about HR 811 from the facts, and countering many of the misleading and outright false claims being made about it."

Pwned by muscle memory

[tttonyyy]

Type "Wii" to much and you start producing words like "Biill".

I knew I was a PHP ubergeek when I found myself typing "mysql" automatically whenever I meant to type "myself" in e-mails (and I did it typing this sentence and had to correct it, I kid you not!).

Re:My opinion

[Dachannien]

In other words, the US election system sucks because we don't just vote for a supreme overlord and be done with it?

Although, if there were a box on my ballot labeled, "I, for one, welcome our new robotic overlords," I'd probably check it.

Diebold

[rustalot42684]

So that's a vote registered to Diebold, right?

Re:All the wrong things...

[lawpoop]

BOTH sides of the aisle look bad on election matters right now, and no real practical solution has arisen out of Washington yet.

Well, jeez, what is their incentive to fix things? Apparently election fraud is how they get into office!

Re:My opinion

[Attila Dimedici]

They tried that in Florida in 2000, the Democrats found it too confusing.

Voting rights

[conureman]

I guess if they're going to quit pretending to count my vote, maybe I can quit pretending it matters, and I can stay home and wait for the results on teevee like every one else. What a time-saver!

The question is...

[vsavkin]

> a voter-verified permanent paper ballot

yeah, but will it blend?

Is a flawed bill better than no bill?

[Anonymous Coward]

I reckon we should ask Hillary.

Toilet paper?

[AlHunt]

>[T]he Holt Bill provides for a paper trail (toilet paper roll-style records

How fitting. I think all federal documents should be thus produced.

Re:My opinion

[morgan_greywolf]

n other words, the US election system sucks because we don't just vote for a supreme overlord and be done with it?

I don't know about you, but my last ballot said:

Supreme Overload (check only ONE):
[ ] The Dark One
[ ] One Ring to Rule Them All...
[ ] The Lord of Mordor
[ ] Sauron, The Dark Lord

And I was really confused. So I just filled one in at random.

It's perhaps worth nothing that I live in Florida.

Re:Pwned by muscle memory

[Red Flayer]

by tttonyyy (726776) Alter Relationship on Thursday July 12, @08:50AM (#19836643)

Sure, but that doesn't explain your muscle-memory producing "tttonyyy" for your nick.

Re:My opinion

[josquint]

Supreme Overload (check only ONE):

Is that like getting slashdotted?