The Problem with Electronic Voting
Actually, make that problems.
Electronic voting seems like one of those things that works well in theory, but when you actually try to do it, odds are it will blow up in your face. We probably all agree that something needs to be done so that we do not have a recurrence of the 2000 election debacle. At least we all say something needs to be done. (There are those, who shall remain nameless, who may have benefited from said debacle, and were therefore probably not too horribly distraught over its occurrence.) To date, it seems the best idea we have come up with -- or the best idea that has been acted upon -- is that of electronic voting. This, I must admit, scares me. Yes, by introducing electronic voting machines, we eliminate the possibility for the now infamous hanging and dimpled chads. But, in solving those problems, we introduce a host of others. For example, one of the biggest issues in the 2000 recount was that of the elderly voters: apparently the source of many hanging and/or dimpled chads. Again, this is a problem solved by electronic voting. But, if you recall, the other issue was that of confusion in the voting booth. There were a number of complaints it seemed that some ballots were confusing in terms of which hole to punch for which candidate. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that introducing technology based voting to elderly voters who were confused about which hole to punch, may not be the best idea. We all have the grandparent or great aunt or uncle who refuses go within 10 feet of a computer, more or less out of fear, even when you buy them one and force them to keep it in their house. Of course it wouldn't matter because even after you spend hours teaching them how to use it, they still can't figure out how to turn the damn thing on. I could go on like this, but now might be a good time to imagine this same elderly person walking into a voting booth to vote in one of the most important elections of their long lives, and finding themselves face to face with a computer screen. See my point?
Another problem: you are reading this on a computer right now. Has it ever crashed? Actually, has it ever done anything that prevented you from doing what you wanted to do. Scarier thought: has it ever gotten a virus? I don't think this problematic area needs any further explanation.
Finally, there is the issue that these voting computers, like all computers, are made by a company. Now I don't mean to seem like a crazed conspiracy theorist liberal -- because believe me, I am not -- but this could be problematic as well. I do not believe the Bush/Cheney is going to collaborate with the companies who produce these voting computers to rig the election or anything like that (although I haven't yet ruled out the possibility of Karl Rove doing something to that effect). What scares me in this regard is corporate scandal. Think Enron. I know there are a number of corporations who strongly support President Bush (possibly because of certain tax breaks) and know that they could stand to gain from another four years of Bush/Cheney. This I will admit, is the least of the three problems I have listed, but given the vast number of corporate scandals, and the sheer disregard for anything other than the desires of the CEOs of these companies, it is not a possibility I would be comfortable ruling out.
We cannot have a repeat of what happened in 2000. There is no doubt about that. But, I fear this shift in certain states to electronic voting may, create more problems than it solves. In an election of this magnitude, this is, quite simply, not something that we can rush into.
Electronic voting seems like one of those things that works well in theory, but when you actually try to do it, odds are it will blow up in your face. We probably all agree that something needs to be done so that we do not have a recurrence of the 2000 election debacle. At least we all say something needs to be done. (There are those, who shall remain nameless, who may have benefited from said debacle, and were therefore probably not too horribly distraught over its occurrence.) To date, it seems the best idea we have come up with -- or the best idea that has been acted upon -- is that of electronic voting. This, I must admit, scares me. Yes, by introducing electronic voting machines, we eliminate the possibility for the now infamous hanging and dimpled chads. But, in solving those problems, we introduce a host of others. For example, one of the biggest issues in the 2000 recount was that of the elderly voters: apparently the source of many hanging and/or dimpled chads. Again, this is a problem solved by electronic voting. But, if you recall, the other issue was that of confusion in the voting booth. There were a number of complaints it seemed that some ballots were confusing in terms of which hole to punch for which candidate. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that introducing technology based voting to elderly voters who were confused about which hole to punch, may not be the best idea. We all have the grandparent or great aunt or uncle who refuses go within 10 feet of a computer, more or less out of fear, even when you buy them one and force them to keep it in their house. Of course it wouldn't matter because even after you spend hours teaching them how to use it, they still can't figure out how to turn the damn thing on. I could go on like this, but now might be a good time to imagine this same elderly person walking into a voting booth to vote in one of the most important elections of their long lives, and finding themselves face to face with a computer screen. See my point?
Another problem: you are reading this on a computer right now. Has it ever crashed? Actually, has it ever done anything that prevented you from doing what you wanted to do. Scarier thought: has it ever gotten a virus? I don't think this problematic area needs any further explanation.
Finally, there is the issue that these voting computers, like all computers, are made by a company. Now I don't mean to seem like a crazed conspiracy theorist liberal -- because believe me, I am not -- but this could be problematic as well. I do not believe the Bush/Cheney is going to collaborate with the companies who produce these voting computers to rig the election or anything like that (although I haven't yet ruled out the possibility of Karl Rove doing something to that effect). What scares me in this regard is corporate scandal. Think Enron. I know there are a number of corporations who strongly support President Bush (possibly because of certain tax breaks) and know that they could stand to gain from another four years of Bush/Cheney. This I will admit, is the least of the three problems I have listed, but given the vast number of corporate scandals, and the sheer disregard for anything other than the desires of the CEOs of these companies, it is not a possibility I would be comfortable ruling out.
We cannot have a repeat of what happened in 2000. There is no doubt about that. But, I fear this shift in certain states to electronic voting may, create more problems than it solves. In an election of this magnitude, this is, quite simply, not something that we can rush into.
posted by Adam Cohen at 10:26 PM
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