Reply #209: No, they're not. Quite the opposite in fact. They are based on OVERSIGHT

[BradBlog]

Trust has NOTHING to do with elections. Our system is not built on trust, it's built on checks and balances. That is something the greatest election officials in the world will tell you.

As Leon County, FL's legendary Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho said in 2006 (and many times since): "Trust no one. If it can't be verified, it can't be used." (http://www.bradblog.com/?p=2859)

That's why transparency and citizen oversight are crucial for a successful democracy and a successful election. When votes are counted in secret (as they are in Wisconsin, on their optical scan systems with nobody checking even 1 ballot for accuracy afterwords), we end up with the mess have on our hands now up there.

Check out the story of Monterey County's 13-year election official Tony Anchundo, who once told me on air that people have to have "faith and trust in their elections officials, in this case, that would be me". See what happened to Tony Anchundo just months after he said that to me in, in this video I posted a few weeks back, about "trust" and "Democracy's Gold Standard" in elections, in response to the debacle that had just emerged in Waukesha County, WI at the time: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8463

And then, if you think "our elections are based on trust", as you suggested, get back to me and let me know why! :-)