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An alternative: Mark ballot, feed to scanner, which either successfully scans a ballot, or returns it to the voter to be re-marked (modulo write-in votes, see

An alternative: Mark ballot, feed to scanner, which either successfully scans a ballot, or returns it to the voter to be re-marked (modulo write-in votes, see link). The scan is the fast & easy result, and the paper ballot can be the separate source of a reproducible result. https://www.verifiedvoting.org/resources/voting-equipment/sequoia/optech-eagle/ https://www.verifiedvoting.org/resources/voting-equipment/se... Also a note for international HN readers - elections in the USA often have 20+ races on the same ballot - we really like elective offices - and that makes hand counting more difficult.

specialist 9y ago
That's a complimentary tool, not an alternative. Most election integrity activists / experts are fine with precinct-based opscans used to tabulate paper ballots the moment the polls close.
- dmckeon 9y ago
  The nice thing about scanning either by the voter or while the voter is present is that spoiled ballots - by stray, faint, or partial marks, or overvoting for too many multiple candidates - are reduced to near zero, and are replaced by fresh voter-marked ballots, which simplifies all later tabulation, and reduces confusion and challenges about mis-marked ballots, thus increasing voter confidence in the whole election process. Anyone who is interested in election processes should volunteer to work an election, either helping operate a polling place, or as a poll watcher, or similar. This is one of those areas that looks simple, but has a lot of difficult edge and corner cases. I've been a poll worker and a registrar of voters, and it is not as simple as most people would think.
  - specialist 9y ago
    +1 Emphatic agreement that everyone should work the polls a few times. A lot the silly rhetoric would be quickly mooted if the belligerents had direct experience. Sorry to pendant, because I know you already know this: some jurisdictions have (selectively) disabled the second chance feature for spoiled (or unreadable) ballots, effectively disenfranchising voters.

specialist 9y ago

That's a complimentary tool, not an alternative. Most election integrity activists / experts are fine with precinct-based opscans used to tabulate paper ballots the moment the polls close.

dmckeon 9y ago
The nice thing about scanning either by the voter or while the voter is present is that spoiled ballots - by stray, faint, or partial marks, or overvoting for too many multiple candidates - are reduced to near zero, and are replaced by fresh voter-marked ballots, which simplifies all later tabulation, and reduces confusion and challenges about mis-marked ballots, thus increasing voter confidence in the whole election process. Anyone who is interested in election processes should volunteer to work an election, either helping operate a polling place, or as a poll watcher, or similar. This is one of those areas that looks simple, but has a lot of difficult edge and corner cases. I've been a poll worker and a registrar of voters, and it is not as simple as most people would think.
- specialist 9y ago
  +1 Emphatic agreement that everyone should work the polls a few times. A lot the silly rhetoric would be quickly mooted if the belligerents had direct experience. Sorry to pendant, because I know you already know this: some jurisdictions have (selectively) disabled the second chance feature for spoiled (or unreadable) ballots, effectively disenfranchising voters.