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Some problems with this, besides the problems that other posters have already mentioned. * One vote counter can't make much of a difference by themselves, so y
by foldr 4y ago
Some problems with this, besides the problems that other posters have already mentioned.
* One vote counter can't make much of a difference by themselves, so you need a conspiracy of vote counters. But conspiracies are difficult to bring about and keep secret in the real world. This is especially so if you have to pay the individuals involved – which seems likely, given that vote counting is boring, thankless volunteer work.
* Everyone involved in the conspiracy risks going to jail, but hardly anyone benefits on a personal level. Why would anyone risk it?
* The extremely large number of spoiled ballots would be suspicious. Especially as they'd probably look rather unlike ordinary spoiled ballots.
* Observers would notice that some counters (those involved in the conspiracy) were processing many more spoiled ballots than others.
I'm reminded of Number 2 pointing out do Dr. Evil that he could quadruple his profits if he shifted his resources away from evil empire building and towards Starbucks. The money and resources spent on rigging the count could be spent more efficiently on 100% legal means of increasing vote count, such as canvasing (= knocking on supporters' doors and encouraging them to go vote).
- bediger4000 4y ago> But conspiracies are difficult to bring about and keep secret in the real world. Counter example: broken ciphers in WW2 mostly kept secret until the mid 1970s. Look the only reason hand counting is even coming up is belief in a particular set of conspiracies, mostly by members of a particular political party.
- foldr 4y ago>Counter example: broken ciphers in WW2 mostly kept secret until the mid 1970s. How's this a counterexample? We know about about lots of conspiracies from the 1970s that weren't known at the time, but we're not finding out about any conspiracies to rig UK election counts – because there weren't any that succeeded to a meaningful extent. Your example shows that even top secret government conspiracies tend to come to light eventually.