ok all is there a way

[bluestarone]

in all states to go to paper Ballots? or is this only accomplished by congress!

[underthematrix]

1. elections are handled at the state level so yes it very doable

but I don't think it will happen

[Chasstev365]

2. It's the states call.

[WillowTree]

3. Each state has jurisdiction as to how elections in their state are run. Yes, even Federal elections.

[Warpy]

4. States will have to do it unless there is a lawsuit about hackable machines

and the USSC issues a ruling.

NM used those machines for one election, 2004. The theft was so obvious that we got paper Opti-Scan ballots in 2005.

[elleng]

5. State by State.

[politicat]

6. It starts at the county level.

It's going to take boots on the ground.

A county clerk and recorder's office is cash strapped. They also need public input they rarely get. The county can't afford to replace voting machines unless the ones they have are past end of useful life. (The good news? Touch screens have a substantially shorter lifespan than the old mechanical punch-card machines.)

The most important voting tech advocacy is at the local level. Be at every open C&R hearing they have, sign up for every public committee, and commit to pushing your county on transparency and audit trails.

You can work on your state's Secretary of State's office, too, with the same tactics, but the county level is where the decisions are made, where the money is spent, and where it's easiest to effect change.

[bluestarone]

7. TY so i'm thinking

we need to decide which states will be of the most problematic (i'm sure they will be controlled by Repubs) and get them boots started before 2018 election? I'm sure there are certain States that will be the cause of most of our problems? What is the best way to figure this one out? need heads together and get it started

[politicat]

8. Start where you are. If you're not on paper, that's your first goal.

If you're on paper now, look at your neighboring counties and recruit friends, start advising them.

Ideally, for nationwide coordination of local action, we need a database of technology in use, budget numbers for each C&R office, and we need to recruit about 10,000 people across the country willing to give up their Thursday evenings. Or local equivalent. We need to be flexible and non-partisan on this one. This affects everyone. While paper ballots hand counted are considered the most accurate, they're not - humans make mistakes that optical scanners don't, and as long as we have 30 candidates and 10 ballot issues and 8 referenda on our ballots, we have to expect scanning as a necessity. So we can't let the purity ponies who are Luddite about anything more advanced than crayon on paper block an improvement.

Most importantly, we need to emphasize that paper + optical is cheaper to buy and maintain than touchscreen, and that opticals are easiest to maintain - they don't go online, they don't need updates.

But it all starts locally. Every state has a C&R office in desperate need of help.

Give me a few days and I can build a basic action plan, some open-source communication tools, and get a spreadsheet ready to start populating it, but the only counties that aren't priority are the ones not using paper at all. Everywhere else is at high risk.