Anybody here use Ballot Trace?

[RichardRay]

Only available in Denver, that I know of. With the addition of a public key (blockchain?) app to check to see that my votes are properly counted, this would remove all my ‘vote by mail concerns.

If you’ve used it, did it work?

[link:https://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/denver-elections-divison/voter-election-information/ballot-trace.html|

[RichardRay]

1. Nobody??

It seems like a *really* good idea...

[The Truth Is Here]

2. Yes.

Works just fine for the last few elections. In denver also.

[brooklynite]

3. If you're obsessed that vote hacking is occurring and/or your vote's being thrown out...

...consider that an evil conspiracy (which I don't think exists) could program a system to TELL you your vote has been counted when it hasn't.

[RichardRay]

4. Public key encryption/blockchain

Getting an easy to use/understand interface would require work, but isn’t an insurmountable challenge. Returning to paper ballots on site, with manual counting, is silly as a long run solution.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

9. Paper ballots are silly?

[RichardRay]

12. Yes

Hand counted paper ballots limit democracy. They limit bandwidth between the public and the government. To the extent that they are required for security they may be a necessary evil. In my view, they are only a step better than everybody meeting in the agora to determine the actions of the city-state.

We have too many people, and too many issues to continue to view hand tallied paper ballots as the gold standard in perpetuity.

[RichardRay]

8. Thinking about holes in mail in ballots.

I like the idea. It seems to have worked well in Oregon and other places. The Denver ballot trace is close, but I’d like to ‘close the loop’ with a way to confirm that my ballot has been counted as I cast it.

[Ms. Toad]

5. It is a status tracking application -

It does not provide information about whether your vote was "properly counted," - if by properly counted, you mean the votes were counted as you marked them.

(It is generally against the law to provide documentation of how you voted, in order to make it impossible to sell your vote (and confirm the ballot was cast as you were paid to cast it))

[RichardRay]

7. That's why I want to add the encrypted access part...

I believe that it’s possible to provide a way that I could check my ballot to see that it’s been properly tallied, while maintaining privacy.

[Ms. Toad]

10. If YOU can access it,

that makes it possible for you to prove how you voted.

Any time an individual can prove how they voted, that proof can be used to prove to a vote buyer, spouse, employer, union, etc. that you did as you were paid/ordered to do.

(If you can't print out the proof, you could provide the key to the person to whom you need to prove how you voted.)

[RichardRay]

11. Same is true of any other method.

If I can access it I can be coerced. If I can’t access it, I can’t be certain it hasn’t been changed or mis-tallied. I’d prefer the first problem. I think it’s easier to address. Logging all access and changes made during each access would probably help, as no changes should be made after the ballot is tallied.

[Ms. Toad]

13. Then work to change the law

In the past, vote buying, coercion from spouses, bosses, and unions were significant ways that elections were rigged. That is the legal reason that no one is permitted to access proof of how they voted.

I actually prefer the latter. Rigging a vote by buying/coercing votes is far simpler than changing enough votes cast across enough elections, to change an election.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. My wife and I use it

It's works. It tells us when our ballots are received by the SoS office.

It also tells us when the ballots are being printed and when they've been mailed to us.