Word: trails
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...many states began the transition from traditional punch card ballots to touch screen systems; yet, since the start of the switchover, many critics have come forth claiming that current systems are insufficiently equipped to stave off the threat of malfunction or manipulation. Therefore, many are calling for a paper trail, or “ballot receipts,” to ensure that in the event of a close or contested election, officials will have evidence of the actual votes. We feel strongly that this is a necessary precaution...
Opponents of this proposal, however, argue that the paper trail is unnecessary and will prove cumbersome to the voting process. According to an article in The New York Times, critics of attaching a printer to current and future electronic voting machines—so voters can “confirm” their ballot—cite “paper jams, voter confusion and delays in the voting booth while voters read their receipts,” as potential disincentives to vote. But, at present, studies show that electronic voting systems are not currently designed to ensure we won?...
...essentially, that malfunctions are often unforeseeable—and the threat of “a wide range of attacks, including ballot stuffing by voters and incorrect tallying by insiders.” Until these considerable concerns are addressed, there is no legitimate reason to oppose a paper trail...
...Diebold’s secrecy and public resistance of the proposed paper trails may not simply involve matters of marketing. After discovering that Diebold’s Chairman, Walden O’Dell, and other members of the company’s board are significant Bush benefactors, their intentions of opposing a ballot receipts remained appropriately suspect to many of the proposal’s proponents. As long as the company’s software security remains inept at guaranteeing a fair and clean election, electronic voting without paper evidence leaves Diebold’s intentions dubious. To ensure that...
Chain of Blame Was Abu Ghraib free-lance madness, or was it part of a larger plan? The trail leads to some disturbing places...