Scrap the "secret" ballot... (Is this a good idea?)

[Wilms]

What does the DU-ER Brain Trust think of this?



Scrap the "secret" ballot - return to open voting

by Lynn Landes

November 5, 2005

snip

Secret ballots are anonymous ballots. They can be easily replaced, altered or destroyed, particularly if voting machines are used. Even if voters 'verify' their ballots and even if audits are performed, widespread vote tampering can still occur with relative ease and little risk of discovery because there still remains no effective method to 'certify' the authenticity of ballots, no way to identify an individual ballot and link it to an individual voter.

With few exceptions, election officials around the world are certifying election results based on anonymous and untraceable ballots. And contrary to a growing legion of election statisticians, exit polls are not an adequate check on election results. It's ridiculous when you think about it, using anonymous exit polls to verify anonymous ballot results.

The entire voting process should be 100% transparent. To that end, I am proposing a protocol for Open Voting with Total Transparency (OVTT):

"Voting shall take place only on Election Day. All ballots and counting shall comply with the following criteria: paper-only, voter-certified, duplicate-provided, and hand-counted. Certification shall require voters to include their name, address, and signature on the ballots. Election officials shall provide the voter with a copy of the voter's ballot. After the election, all ballots shall be available for public inspection at the Board of Elections office. Not permitted are the following: absentee or early voting, Internet voting, voting machines or optical scanners, and secret ballots."

snip

In fact, three voting practices were introduced during the post-Civil War era that severely limited, if not destroyed, meaningful public oversight of the voting process: 1) absentee voting, 2) the use of voting machines, and 3) the secret ballot. Absentee voting has always been problematic, which is why many states and nations restrict its use. Voting machines are under increasing scrutiny due to their inherent non-transparency, which is why most countries have chosen not to use them. Amazingly however, the secret ballot has dodged public scrutiny, so far.

snip/read it/and comment

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1546