How secure will votes be?

[candy331]

Tallahassee.com


Sun, Dec. 07, 2003

How secure will votes be?
Lack of a paper trail in 2004 election concerns some
By Nancy Cook Lauer
DEMOCRAT CAPITOL BUREAU CHIEF

When playwright Tom Stoppard said "It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting," he had no idea how his words would resonate in Florida and across the nation almost three decades later.

Counts, recounts, canvassing boards and lawsuits took center stage after the 2000 presidential election. As a result, Election Day 2004 is sure to be one of the most scrutinized ever.

And now, with the advent of electronic ballots for more than half of Florida's voting populace, a new controversy has surfaced - the security and verifiability of votes cast using machines that leave no paper trail.

A divided electorate

Elections officials always fear a close election, but 2004 promises to be just that. Florida remains the most partisan of the competitive large states in the nation, with its 9.4 million registered voters evenly divided as of Sept. 30 with 42 percent Democrats, 39 percent Republicans, 17 percent with no party affiliation and 3 percent minor parties.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Election fraud

can take place even without touch screens. In 2004, for the first time in a long time, there will be a secret ballot in Arkansas. Before this time, you signed your name next to the number on your ballot. And the ballot boxes in my precinct weren't locked, which meant that folks could go in and find your ballot and do what they wanted with it-as well as know how you voted.

But touch screens without a ballot trail are BAD news.

[Moderator]

2. candy331

Per DU copyright rules
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http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/7432773.htm


Thank you.

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