On Sat, 16 Aug 2008 07:27:10 -0700 Jonathan Lundell wrote:
On Aug 16, 2008, at 12:54 AM, Kristofer Munsterhjelm wrote:
I am for a record on disk of each ballot, but done in a maner to
not destroy secrecy.
You have to be very careful when doing so, because there are many
channels to secure. A vote-buyer might tell you to vote exactly at
noon so that the disk record timestamp identifies you, or he might,
in the case of Approval and ranked ballots, tell you to vote for not
just his preferred candidate, but both the low-support communist and
the low-support right extremist as well, so that he can tell which
ballot was yours and that you voted correctly.
In the US, at least, voting by mail has become so prevalent that I
wonder whether it's worthwhile making voting machinery absolutely
impregnable to vote-buying. All else being equal, sure, why not, but if
we trade off other desirable properties to preserve secrecy, and leave
the vote-by-mail door unlocked....
There are two topics here:
I LIKE the secret ballot, have had it most of my life, and know
many others have similar desires for good reason. That thought
inspired my words at the top.
Vote buying needs discouraging, but I concede perfection is less
essential here.
Voting by mail requires humans obeying rules. I believe the rules in
NY still require placing the ballots in an anonymous stack without
humans reading their content while having the voter's identity associated.
--
[EMAIL PROTECTED] people.clarityconnect.com/webpages3/davek
Dave Ketchum 108 Halstead Ave, Owego, NY 13827-1708 607-687-5026
Do to no one what you would not want done to you.
If you want peace, work for justice.
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