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Y'know, I hate to come to your country and tell you how to run your elections, but I really think the best way to do it is the way we do it in Australia. You g

by hugh 18y ago

Y'know, I hate to come to your country and tell you how to run your elections, but I really think the best way to do it is the way we do it in Australia. You go to the ballot box, and you get a pencil, and a printed ballot sheet with a standardised design nationwide. You write little numbers (we have preferential voting) in little boxes, and stick it in a box. No hacking, no tampering, no confusion, no breakdowns, and no lining up for more than a couple of minutes.

LogicHoleFlaw 18y ago
From what I hear, American elections involve many more votes than most other nations. At my local polls, the semiannual elections contain ballots for 5 or six different districts (federal, state, county, town, school district, fire district, police district) as well as referendums on several tax proposals and even things like road improvement projects. There are votes to sustain the currently elected Judges in my court district, and votes for positions like tax assessors. I'm sure I'm missing a few. Seriously, it's a lot of votes. My voting district uses Scantron ballots which are nice because you do fill out a paper form, which is tallied on the spot. You get the paper trail of a paper ballot, with the speed of an electronic system.
- hugh 18y ago
  So you'd have to fill out eight ballot papers instead of our two or three. Or perhaps, you'd fill out a single perforated ballot paper and it would be ripped apart before counting. I've seen Australian ballot papers which are about three feet by one foot, and list a few hundred candidates for the state upper house (later they changed the law to make it harder to get on the ballot sheet). Anyway, if we can cope with that, I'm sure you guys could cope with having multiple elections on one big perforated sheet. The Scantron system actually sounds sensible enough though. If that were implemented nationwide it would be a good system. But I can't understand this district-by-district (or is it county-by-county?) disparity of voting schemes.
  - LogicHoleFlaw 18y ago
    Oh, it does sound like you have a good number of entries on your ballots. Sorry for making assumptions. To be honest I've never voted in an election which didn't use Scantron ballots. I believe the voting devices are selected and allocated on a state-by-state basis though. The federal law mandates certain requirements the states must meet but leaves the implementation up to each individual one. I've lived in North Carolina, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Utah, and used Scantrons in each location. Maybe the computerized systems are used in more urban or wealthy districts?
- chrisbroadfoot 18y ago
  At my local polls, the semiannual elections contain ballots for 5 or six different districts (federal, state, county, town, school district, fire district, police district) as well as referendums on several tax proposals and even things like road improvement projects. The reason that doesn't happen in Australia is because state and federal elections cannot be held on the same day.
astine 18y ago
We'd have to count those by hand. Every time someone suggests that, I just hear Florida in my head.

by hugh 18y ago

LogicHoleFlaw 18y ago

From what I hear, American elections involve many more votes than most other nations. At my local polls, the semiannual elections contain ballots for 5 or six different districts (federal, state, county, town, school district, fire district, police district) as well as referendums on several tax proposals and even things like road improvement projects. There are votes to sustain the currently elected Judges in my court district, and votes for positions like tax assessors. I'm sure I'm missing a few. Seriously, it's a lot of votes. My voting district uses Scantron ballots which are nice because you do fill out a paper form, which is tallied on the spot. You get the paper trail of a paper ballot, with the speed of an electronic system.

hugh 18y ago
So you'd have to fill out eight ballot papers instead of our two or three. Or perhaps, you'd fill out a single perforated ballot paper and it would be ripped apart before counting. I've seen Australian ballot papers which are about three feet by one foot, and list a few hundred candidates for the state upper house (later they changed the law to make it harder to get on the ballot sheet). Anyway, if we can cope with that, I'm sure you guys could cope with having multiple elections on one big perforated sheet. The Scantron system actually sounds sensible enough though. If that were implemented nationwide it would be a good system. But I can't understand this district-by-district (or is it county-by-county?) disparity of voting schemes.
- LogicHoleFlaw 18y ago
  Oh, it does sound like you have a good number of entries on your ballots. Sorry for making assumptions. To be honest I've never voted in an election which didn't use Scantron ballots. I believe the voting devices are selected and allocated on a state-by-state basis though. The federal law mandates certain requirements the states must meet but leaves the implementation up to each individual one. I've lived in North Carolina, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Utah, and used Scantrons in each location. Maybe the computerized systems are used in more urban or wealthy districts?
chrisbroadfoot 18y ago
At my local polls, the semiannual elections contain ballots for 5 or six different districts (federal, state, county, town, school district, fire district, police district) as well as referendums on several tax proposals and even things like road improvement projects. The reason that doesn't happen in Australia is because state and federal elections cannot be held on the same day.

astine 18y ago

We'd have to count those by hand. Every time someone suggests that, I just hear Florida in my head.