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>This is why they need to bring the proper folks to think through the problem - digital is great until it doesn't work and paper is just less of a pain for ever
by the_snooze 2y ago
>This is why they need to bring the proper folks to think through the problem - digital is great until it doesn't work and paper is just less of a pain for everyone.
There's a reason why pretty much all states use paper ballots instead of electronic-only voting. In both elections and retaurants, paper just works. It has minimal outside dependencies, has few failure modes, and we have processes in place to deal with corner cases.
Sure, electronics are flashier and more efficient, but I think HN can more than appreciate the truth that software and computers are brittle.
- cesarb 2y ago> There's a reason why pretty much all states use paper ballots instead of electronic-only voting. Pretty much all states in the USA. In my country (Brazil), all states use electronic-only voting (it's actually a single system, managed by the federal government). Of course, in the rare cases in which it fails (and the replacement device also fails), the paper backup (traditional paper ballots with a canvas box) is still available. > It has minimal outside dependencies That's actually the main issue. As the initial comment said, "[...] it should at least provide its own equipment that is hooked to the proper network [...]", and I would add that it should depend only on a local server, so that it works perfectly even if the WAN connection is misbehaving. (The Brazilian electronic ballot box is completely offline, it has no network connection at all; voting setup and results are stored into a removable memory card, and also printed into paper through a built-in printer as a backup. Its only outside dependency is power, and it has both a built-in battery and connection ports for an external battery.)
- DemocracyFTW2 2y agothis sounds terrifying. how can one.