‘Daily Voting News’ For April 1 and 2, 2007

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Many on all sides of the discussions over HR-811 point to the “Hursti Hack” as proof of their arguments. Those who back HR-811 without any ban on DREs tell us that the “Hursti Hack” in Florida proves that optical-scan systems are equally as bad as DREs. Those on the opposite side of the argument, and for hand counted paper ballots make the exact same argument. What does Harri Hursti have to say? Harri says that DREs are not safe for use in elections, even with a voter verified paper audit trail. He also says that hand counting paper ballots is not feasible in the US because of the complexity of our ballots. It may work in Finland, or other countries, where the ballots are simple and may only have one or two races; but not in the United States with ballots that are pages long.

That story, and many more today, all linked below…

  • NAtional: HAVA and HR 811 – Voting Machines’ Impact on Minority Communities LINK
  • NAtional: Congress finally considers aggressive e-voting overhaul LINK
  • NAtional: Is The EAC Being Appropriately Cautious or Cowardly on Voter Identification Research? LINK
  • CA: Riverside County – Hackin’ Harri Hursti a Hit in Riverside County, California LINK
  • FL: FL-13 – District 13 election still echoing across nation LINK
  • IN: Editorial – Flawed voter ID ruling LINK
  • IN: Editorial – Answers on vote centers come Nov. 6 LINK
  • MA: Judge Denies Diebold Request To Stop State ES&S Purchase LINK
  • MD: Howard County – County elections board soon to experience a nearly complete turnover in membership LINK
  • MO: Boone County – Blind voters praise electronic machines LINK
  • OH: Cuyahoga County – Editorial – Cleveland’s elections mess LINK
  • PA: Bumping up primary would create headaches for districts LINK
  • PA: Luzerne County – New law may change voting machines LINK
  • VA: Editorial – Shed light on voting in Virginia LINK

    • **”Daily Voting News” is meant as a comprehensive listing of reports each day concerning issues related to election and voting news around the country regardless of quality or political slant. Therefore, items listed in “Daily Voting News” may not reflect the opinions of VotersUnite.Org or BradBlog.Com**

    3 Responses

    1. Hursti says “hand counting paper ballots is not feasible in the US because of the complexity of our ballots”.

      One complex ballot, two complex ballots, three …

      I would take a longer time … but the scenario looks like it would only happen when the machine total is questioned in any valid manner.

      It is at worst the better backup plan isn’t it?

    2. I’m told in Mexico there is a separate ballot and box for each race- i.e. a separate box for each office to be determined.

      Is it rocket science to re-design the layout of our ballots for immediate transparency?

      Taking it to the logical limits- have a separate transparent box for each candidate, covered during voting, uncovered before the count. Don’t you love the visual of true transparency?

    3. Harri Hursti should understand, in English or Finnish, that “Seeing is believing”, and only seeing is believing!

      On this issue, I think the “eyes” have it!