Friday, April 28, 2023

🗳️

But! Mike Lindell has evidence which…he still hasn’t shown to anyone… And many people are still saying: Personal anecdote time: I voted today (local school board early voting) on new machines. I should note I’ve been voting since the ‘70’s: on machines, on punch ballots, on computers. I never doubted the integrity of the method. This election represented a shift from a computer to a computer and paper. 

I was given a sheet of paper, labeled as to how it should be loaded; and a code to access the computer. There were only two positions to vote on, so it went quickly. I made my selections, pushed a button, and the machine took my paper and printed the ballot. (This isn’t entirely new to the county, but I vote by mail (like Trump!), so I hadn’t seen these before.) 

I walked the printed ballot over to another machine which scanned it and stored the electronic information that will be tallied for the election results. (I also signed in to vote on a screen, which was odd as I can’t write my signature with my index finger. I scrawl an “R” and a line for the rest, which isn’t really my “signature.” But it’s acceptable for voting security? Okay… I have to sign my mail-in ballot twice, in ink. 🤷🏻‍♂️) So the process is to use a machine to create a document which I scan into another machine, and this is better? Before, I put the information directly into the computer. Now, I cause one computer to print a document, and then cause another computer to scan that document into a data base? And this Goldbergian process is progress?

I was standing behind an older (than me) couple who obviously also vote by mail (it’s automatic for voters over 65), and who marveled at the new process. She said it should be done that way for federal elections (yes, it is). Obviously she thought it more “secure.” It does create a paper trail, but if you don’t trust the machine count, why would you trust the paper re-count? How do you know ballots weren’t “lost” (as Trump has alleged, without evidence)? Why do you trust the hand count? If you’re going to be paranoid and suspicious, how do you trust any election results?

I’ve been voting on machines since I started voting. I’m quite comfortable to keep doing so with or without paper.

I watched Barack Obama talk to David Letterman from 2017 (the magic of Netflix) today, and Obama pointed out America puts more barriers in the way of voting than any other democracy in the world. Of course, we started out restricting the vote to white, male property owners who, among other things, could take the time on one day to vote. (Obama raised the example of the single mother, working all week, who can’t take time off on any given Tuesday, or maybe even get to a polling place after work.) It leads me to favor universal mail ballots, postage paid. Of course, that would lead to “fraud”! It’s amazing how many people don’t want to vote, but do want to vote fraudulently. 🤷🏻‍♂️ 

But then, the purpose of voting restrictions is not security; it’s to prevent the “wrong” people from voting. Which is, as Obama pointed out, the American Way. 🇺🇸 

And we regularly find fraudulent voters (like Trump voters voting for dead relatives. Isn’t it curious how Republicans fear “voter fraud,” and almost all the voter fraud cases involve Republican voters? Huh. I wonder why that is…? 🤔)

Universal mail-in ballots for all registered voters. It might eventually increase voter participation. And it leaves a paper trail!
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1 comment:

  1. The Thought Criminal11:03 AM

    I've been toying with an idea of making the Electoral College vote of any state determined by the percentage of eligible voters - adult citizens over the age of 18, not subject to vote suppression methods - who actually cast a vote in the last election. Since we can't get rid of the slave-power enhancing atrocity we have to try other methods of turning it around to favor equality and, so, democracy.

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