Last night, before the Super Tuesday numbers started rolling in, I was watching CNN when I heard Lou Dobbs griping about how numerous states have voting machines without paper trails. I was reflecting on how ridiculous it is that we can’t create and implement technology across the board that ensures every vote is counted accurately and has a fail-safe backup system (paper or not). I mean, we’ve made numerous trips to the moon, created phones smaller than a deck of cards and we can’t figure out a reliable system for counting ballots?
This isn’t rocket science. You have to come away thinking that there must be little to no political will to make this happen.
Earlier today, this issue was on my mind when I came across Carmen’s post at AllAboutRace where she described her experience at a California poll and her belief that her vote was not counted. Check out her post for the details and if you doubt it’s validity check out the other stories on the topic. She’s not the only one.
Some might say that stories like these represent a conspiracy to disenfranchise particular voters. I’m not ready to go that far. The bottom line for me is that, intentional or not, such experiences threaten a fundamental principle of our democratic process. This is inexcusable–especially in a country that prides itself in its democratic ideals.
So everyone needs to keep an eye on this one. For more info on making your vote count in California, check out Carmen’s most recent update.
3 responses so far ↓
1
Carmen D.
// Feb 6, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Great post. I believe there is little political will to create a fool proof voting system because on some level “the people” feel powerless on one hand and feel that “everything’s gonna work out” even if I do nothing. It’s scary how divorced from our democracy we have become.
2
Darren
// Feb 9, 2008 at 8:06 am
There should be a national standard for voting technique or machine. It would take the state-by-state decisions out of it and make the whole process simpler.
3
Mike
// Feb 14, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Darren, I agree that that a national standard/process would cut through all of this BS. I have a hard time understanding why something like this should be a state decision.
Carmen, yes, I do think people have been way too laissez-faire about this. Hopefully your post sparked something though and got folks thinking and acting. Keep fighting the good fight.
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