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“A Better Election System” By Paul Magill Smith 3-8-2K6
“To begin with, in the United States there must be a powerful demolition of the old political order: We need elections where all votes are cast and counted. The campaign against voter repression is the essential civil rights struggle of our time, even though most progressives don’t seem to realize it yet. Prevailing will require fundamental reform such as the introduction of nationwide vote-by-mail (the Oregon system). Without that, and also many relentless prosecutions, nothing else will be achieved”.—JAMES K. GALBRAITH March 30, 2006 “Taming Global Capitalism Anew”—(April 17, 2006 issue of The Nation Magazine)
James K. Galbraith, chair of the board of Economists for Peace and Security, teaches at the University of Texas and is senior scholar with the Levy Economics Institute

The latest round of corruption in our government stems from the biggest executive crime of all. In collusion with the Supreme Court our glorious president/dictator/tyrant “stole” the election of 2000, with another criminal (Tom DeLay) “stole” a majority in the house through re-districting, and with corporate henchmen in Diebold & Company “stole” another presidency in 2004. Whether you agree with the presidential election results or not there were statistical anomolies, and thousands of citizen complaints that should have required greater scrutiny & inquiry.
Since the 2000 presidential election our national coffers have been looted to the tune of trillions of dollars, and with almost three more years to go in this theocratic oligarchy there is still much more damage to come. Our financial ruin, through an unsustainable balance of trade deficit, massive fiscal deficits, and a consolidation of wealth in the hands of a few individuals & corporations, bodes ill for generations of Americans to come—IF there are generations to come after the effects of global warming, a state of perpetual global war, and depleted uranium have their way with us.
A bleak picture-yes-but there is cause for hope. Going under the assumption most Americans have a streak of common sense, and an inbred respect for ‘the rule of law’, the first step toward retrieving our now stolen democracy is restoring honesty to our electoral process. Accountability, verifiability, and transparency are not luxuries; they are necessities if democracy in America (the world) is to be viable.
With these considerations in mind I propose an entirely new election system for this country. It uses, for the most part, existing equipment & technology already in place throughout the entire country, and would only require the development of some software. Election expenses would be reduced, election theft would become a thing of the past, and national referendums on key issues would become a possibility. The ‘will of the people’ would become king, instead of the preferences of King George/Dick/Karl/Donald/ etc.
So here is the idea. Currently in the US there are 368,000 ATM machines. They are easy to use (even from a car), provide a paper trail, accessible by use of a card with security features, and very accurately keep track of billions of transactions every month (a 1% accuracy error, which is acceptable for most elections, would land bankers out of their jobs & very likely jailed).
OK, so the first part deals with voting at ATM’s, except when they are being used for elections they would become AVM’s (Automatic Voting Machines).
The issue of verifiability would be very simple also. Since each registered voter would receive their own magnetic credit-card type, individually numbered card (requiring a personalized identification number-PIN-to make it work), each voter would have a specific number, and security that they were the only one who had the secret code to access the AVM. Following an election their unique number, along with the way their vote was recorded would be published in the local paper & on the internet at a specific site. Since all the voter numbers could be placed in numerical order it would be easy to scan down the list to your number and verify your vote was cast for the person you wanted it to be.
If it was an election with candidates in a number of positions your vote would read as a multi-character number. An example would be 1324113 in which you voted for 7 different people for as many electable posts. The AVM would have given you a hard copy receipt to be used to verify against the posted list.
ATM’s are already linked to central computers, so collection of the total votes from all the machines should present very little problem. Election officials would be necessary at these institutions to verify all the votes were retrieved, but the elimination of officials at each precinct polling place would eliminate much of the costs of holding elections as with our current system. As a further dis-incentive to election fraud, caused by computer tampering, if a certain percentage or number of voters provide their AVM receipt to election officials, and their vote code doesn’t match that of the central computers, the election results are AUTOMATICALLY declared void, resulting in a new election.
Since I have only begun thinking & writing about this new system I am sure there are many details to be considered and worked out. The bottom line is the current election system is broken, with millions of Americans lacking confidence in the extant election process & results.
As the world’s oldest democracy, holding our ’system’ up as a model for budding or want-to-be democracies around the globe, it behooves us to make sure our own system is the best we can possibly make it, and the one others will wish to emulate. “Do as I say” is not good enough. If America is to ‘talk the talk’ we must ‘walk the walk’ also.

Paul Magill Smith
2607 Towngate Ct.
Richmond, VA 23233
804-360-9382
Rockitz.org

WorForLess is really kind of a lame name if your goal was to dis me.

I mean, what does it mean? If you’d spelled it warforless, then at least it’d mean something, albeit more aptly addressed to one of your hoard.

Try something like, Barfeus, or Boareus, or maybe Dorkeus.

Those are much more amusing and they actually can be construed to mean something derogatory.

it is simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken.

Dr Carl Sagan
The Demon-Haunted World (The fine art of Baloney detection)

Comment by the NotSo-mighty aphrodite — June 1, 2006 @ 6:52 pm

Ja bedeute ich die Nazi Herrschaft. Sie wissen, das zahlen Sie Gebühren zu.

Ich weiS, das Sie die Bingo und Bratwurstnachte sich sorgen.

Comment by the NotSo-mighty aphrodite — June 1, 2006 @ 6:52 pm

You keep telling yourselves that slappy.

“Suck it up. Get mad. Put on your gameface and man up. Listen up. Shore it up and lets get it up.”
*****Here’s where it gets sticky for progs. The term gameface suggests competition. “Competitive nature” and “progressive” are an oxymoron. Do more recruiting at ANSWER Network and the Socialist Worker Websites – convince the Marxists that socialism WILL be introduced incrementally and that all variations of LEFTISTS MUST come together to repeal the “evil” conservatives.

“Its time for democrats to stop freaking whining, and start getting behind one single candidate. All for one and one for all.”
*****Great point!!! Too many progs are members of splinter organizations or specialty networks – but thankfully, so many of your causes cross over. Why just today, I found a fabulous idea to balance the budget and demonstrate a sincere concern for the beleaguered prison population. Hampton Roads Indy Media is suggesting the abolition of prisons!! This great idea lessens personal guilt and angst – in addition they have cross-over causes such as partial birth abortion, saving baby seals, and burning down ski resorts! What a coalition could be built!

“Thats the only formula thats gonna beat the reich.”
******Worf, was that beat the “reich” or the “rich”? I’m sure it’s the same thing in your book, but I wanted clarification. Of course, POUND home the fact that the workers would be better served with leftist, socialist, Communist institutions. (The degrees of socialism can be tailored to suit the group you’re trying to “bond” with.)

“Remember each time we fail, the world suffers.”
******ABSOLUTELY! The LLLL (Last Lovable, Leftist Leader) of modern times was Mr. Peristroyka. (I recall vividly the cheering throngs of US lefties who treated him as a “rock star”) The Left NEEDS to CONVEY the intelligence and “social justice” of socialism. Average people need to BELIEVE Leftys have ALL the answers.

Start networking with the Marxists, anti-imperialists at International A.N.S.W.E.R and Ramsey Clarks crew at Workers World Party. (These groups could also be joined by SIEU and AFSCME.) Explain that the goal WILL be met but reining in moderate and conservative DEMS is in the best interest of the planet. (I realize many on the left despise borders and nations…but a subtle approach could lead to victory for progs.

Comment by mighty hypocrite —

Mighty Hypocrite,
By saying that Hillary will have to wait until ‘16, you are, in fact, surmissing–admitting– that Gore will win again in ‘08 and ‘12. What a Freudian slip-up for you!

Technology usually has a way of leaving the dull and uneducated in the dust.

Bye bye Henry Ford. It was nice while it lasted.

I’m still amazed at the vociferous attacks against this global warming issue, these right wing business types are really scared shitless! Why debate truth? Why be pro-pollution? Why by pro-destruction of the earth?

Compelling questions, and if the answer isn’t that they’re evil, it’s that they are greedy, shortsighted and ignorant.

Comment by unbelievable #43

unbelievable,

…”sensorimotor” stage?

They think Jesus is coming in a few years. Who knows, maybe he is.

But if he is, don’t you think it would be better if we still have an ozone when he gets here?