Protecting Democracy

Asha warns us about paperless voting. My head's usual place in the sand often prevents me knowing what is going on, so I was shocked. I thoroughly oppose the idea of electronic voting and always have. I am concerned almost to the point of panic that there are apparently moves afoot to establish electronic voting as the norm. Follow the link from her posting to send the word to our so-called representatives and support an emergency bill that will save the paper ballot.

Ironic that we use electronic communication to deter electronic voting? Maybe. But these electronic systems are wonderful for communication. They are horrible for doing anything that requires real accountability. Money transfers, purchases, troop movements, fine. But as we learned in FL in 2000, a strict paper trail is a cornerstone of a democratic society. Without it, we're screwed. And take it from me, a high-tech so-called professional of some twenty five years' experience, anything they tell you about backup systems and new nonvolatile technologies and redundant records and on and on, it's just marketing speech either from people who a) want to be remembered for doing something "progressive" or b) want to sell a lot of shit to people who want to be remembered for something. Do not trust technology. Got that?

Here's the letter I wrote at the site Asha points to:

I am shocked to discover paperless voting is under consideration. I will never cast a vote that lacks a physical paper trail. I want you to recognize electronic voting as a scam pulled by narrow technological interests, to acknowledge the physical polling place as a fundamental gathering point for democracy, and to abandon these paperless efforts before they cause irreparable harm to our country. Thank you.

I don't know yet if that made any sense, but too late anyway, it's sent.

I recall from my genealogical research that I had an ancestor who was very proud to have walked a few miles to vote after celebrating his 100th birthday. He voted for W. H. Harrison which gives you an idea of when he was born (1740). My dutiful trek down to the polling place gives me a connection to old Sam Leonard, a connection I never want to break by sitting my lazy fat ass at home to vote over the internet, the only likely exercise to follow that being the impotent rage that will result from my vote and every other being lost or miscounted due to a programming "error". And you must understand that in such a case, "error" absolutely belongs in quotes.