3 ms·

To cast a free and fair election, we should run a good election. Perhaps a standard ballot design could be required in all states?

binarymax 10y ago
The problem is that voting machines are a competitive system sold to various levels of government. At the state level, there are different requirements, but not unified at the federal level [0]. Due to the differences, there cannot be a single mandated design, as the voting machine companies are not required to be consistent from state to state. There is lots of history here, which I haven't gotten very far into, but I think most would agree that reform and consistency would solve these problems. That wouldn't benefit the voting machine company profits though, so there is huge push-back. [0] https://www.eac.gov/assets/1/Page/State%20Requirements%20and%20the%20Federal%20Voting%20System%20Testing%20and%20Certification%20Program.pdf https://www.eac.gov/assets/1/Page/State%20Requirements%20and...
mjmahone17 10y ago
How do you deal with states that have propositions vs. states that don't? What about states without bicameral legislatures [0]? Or states where a single candidate can run for multiple parties [1]? The reason you can't have a standard ballot design is because states don't have standardized races or systems. And so long as the US is a federation, you really wouldn't want to have all states with the same electoral system. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebraska_Legislature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebraska_Legislature [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_fusion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_fusion
- mynameisvlad 10y ago
  Just because there's one standard design doesn't mean that each state won't have slightly different requirements; it just means that the design of the standard ballot would have to incorporate those requirements.
- flukus 10y ago
  Multiple ballot papers.

binarymax 10y ago

The problem is that voting machines are a competitive system sold to various levels of government. At the state level, there are different requirements, but not unified at the federal level [0]. Due to the differences, there cannot be a single mandated design, as the voting machine companies are not required to be consistent from state to state. There is lots of history here, which I haven't gotten very far into, but I think most would agree that reform and consistency would solve these problems. That wouldn't benefit the voting machine company profits though, so there is huge push-back. [0] https://www.eac.gov/assets/1/Page/State%20Requirements%20and%20the%20Federal%20Voting%20System%20Testing%20and%20Certification%20Program.pdf https://www.eac.gov/assets/1/Page/State%20Requirements%20and...

mjmahone17 10y ago

How do you deal with states that have propositions vs. states that don't? What about states without bicameral legislatures [0]? Or states where a single candidate can run for multiple parties [1]? The reason you can't have a standard ballot design is because states don't have standardized races or systems. And so long as the US is a federation, you really wouldn't want to have all states with the same electoral system. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebraska_Legislature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebraska_Legislature [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_fusion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_fusion

mynameisvlad 10y ago
Just because there's one standard design doesn't mean that each state won't have slightly different requirements; it just means that the design of the standard ballot would have to incorporate those requirements.
flukus 10y ago
Multiple ballot papers.