BBV-Southington demo of Voter Verified Paper Ballot DRE -Thumbs Up!

[RedEagle]

Southington demo of voter-verified paper ballot touch screen a great success-


http://www.record-journal.com/articles/2003/09/19/news/news001.txt

"SOUTHINGTON — More than 100 senior citizens tested the electronic voting machines Thursday that will be used in two of the town's 12 voting districts for the November election — and virtually all of them gave the system an enthusiastic thumbs up.".......


"After he records such changes — or if he chooses to stick with his original votes — all his choices automatically appear on the screen for final review. When he is ready to cast his ballot, he presses the "Cast Ballot" button. Pressing it a second time confirms completion and a paper receipt will be printed on the adjacent printer for review."

[Hawkeye-X]

1. Were the voting machines in a "test" mode?

I seem to recall seeing a website somewhere where there was two different modes - "test" mode which gives the actual vote results, and the "election" mode which falsified the voting results.

Hawkeye-X

[punpirate]

2. The reference in this article...

... is to an entirely different manufacturer, one which has included provisions for a voter-verified paper ballot, something most people knowledgeable about such systems have been working toward.

Cheers.

[RedEagle]

3. Not An election- A Demo

This was NOT an election.

It was a demo.

The screen may have been an indication to those present that they WERE NOT officially voting.

Just trying it out.

I do not know what you are referring to and I'll bet it concerns one of the big three companies machines- Diebold, ES&S, or Sequoia.

I've see little press on this company.

[kimchi]

4. You could very easily mess with the election totals...

which is why the voter-verified paper ballot is the key!

"The receipt can be viewed through a glass window but is kept inside the machine and eventually locked in a box for possible audit. But before it disappears into the machine, voters can make sure their votes have been properly recorded.

"There is no paper trail on our mechanical machines," Sherman said. "The new federal law sponsored by (U.S. Sen.) Chris Dodd mandates that such a trail be maintained starting in 2006."

[Old and In the Way]

5. 2006 is too late..........plenty of time to make it for 2004 if it's

enacted now. Really, how difficult could this be? All these touchscreens must have a serial/parallel port where a local printer could be added. Then you have the best of all worlds: speed, ease-of-use, and VERIFIABILITY.

[shance]

6. "Before it disappears into the machine"

never to be seen again.

<<The ballot is kept inside the machine and eventually locked in a box for possible audit >>

This description reminds me of one of those school films we had to watch at school that were made in the fifties where "Betty" happily watches as her ballot enters the twilight zone and all is well in Pleasantville.

Who buys this bs**that the company is going to keep the ballots THEMSELVES for safe keeping?

Boy, I SURE DO FEEL better being able to see my ballot from a window "before it disappears", not to mention watching it stay within the hands of some private company with connections to the Republican party.

[RedEagle]

7. What Election Law Do You Know That Let's Ballots Be Kept By

..the company, except maybe for Touch Screen without voter verified paper ballots.

One of the big issues had been letting the voter touch the ballot. (Although they get to do this with other systems, go figure)

The ballot is dumped into a secure ballot box. That ballot box is treated the same way as any other ballot box, and the votes are kept and stored and/or counted by the election officials

The company has nothing to do with the ballots other than making a voter verified ballot possible.

And, oh, for your information, this company, last I researched it, was one of the LEAST connected to the GOP.