Reply #3: Flaws

[adolfo]

They both have similar components such as hardware and software. It is the software that controls the hardware that gets the job done (or not). When you have a corporation or organization that controls both aspects it is a recipe for corruption, especially when there are no mandatory auditing procedures or oversight committees. The price tag for U.S presidency or Senate can be worth billions so the problems we face now should not come as a surprise.

Don’t blame the scanners; blame the corrupt organizations behind them. Optical scanners can be reliable and useful if there were true checks and balances. Right now most states don’t have this basic element to help secure our elections so we are screwed until it is fixed.

Like you, I favor hand-counted paper ballots but when you consider the logistics involved it is just not realistic for many places. This issue has been discussed before on another post.

The large hill gets steeper as we add more demands to our list. It not only makes it harder to accomplish our goals but also pushes away valuable allies. One of our most valuable ally is the election official. We must stop treating them as if they are the enemy. We need them on our side since they have a huge influence over the process. Yes, there are bad ones but not all are the same.

E-voting machines are the biggest threat to fair elections and should be our highest priority since there is no way to independently verify their results.

Andy was working on mandatory voter verifiable paper ballots which is one of the most basic but crucial steps towards achieving fair elections. I think we should follow his lead.

Let us focus and strategize. Remember, the election fraud was not planned overnight.