Response from Va Beach Voter Registrar's office to my email...

[Gin]

From: [e-mail]
To: gin
Sent from the Internet (Details)

We have made no decisions on voting equipment for the City of Virginia Beach. But all voting machines have problems. It is the integrity of the custodians and the Registrar's office that really count.


09/08/03 07:38PM >>>
from Gin

Is Virginia Beach considering using touch screen voting machines with no paper trail?
I am deeply concerned about the trend of using these voting machines with no additional way to recount if necessary.

These systems, such as Diebold, use proprietary information, and are owned by private companies. Do you think it's a good idea for a private corporation to count our votes using a process we're not allowed to see? I don't.

Thank you,

[underpants]

1. Integrity at the beach?

Whoda thunk it?

Something tells me that suddenly there will be 5 people who live in Va. Beach and 90% will vote Republican thereby washing out the rest of the state and giving the Old Dominion to W on a platter.

[qb]

2. It sounds like this person needs a little education.

The most honest person in the world wouldn't know if Diebold was counting the votes correctly.

[never cry wolf]

3. That is a non-answer

They didn't answer your question so I would write back to them. They even admit that all voting machines have problems making the case for a paper trail even more crucial.

[sexybomber]

4. all voting machines have problems...

uh... then wouldn't ANY voting machine infringe upon the right of every single American to have his or her vote counted accurately?

We should go back to hand-counted, clearly marked paper ballots. Those are really the only foolproof ones.

[gratuitous]

5. The answer is a lie

If you can't track the paper trail of the votes, the most conscientious, honest custodians and office in the world couldn't tell you whether the fix was in or not. If the registrar buys a product that can be fiddled with and not leave a trace of that fiddling, then it doesn't matter whether they have integrity or not!

You should probably follow up with another note to them with a little less heat than my response, and a little more calm and logic, as you demonstrated in your first email to the registrar's office.

[Gin]

6. thanks for all the responses...I need help formulating my reply...

at least they haven't bought the damn things yet.