Seriously. With all the problems in the last couple of elections, why not stick to the good old paper ballot? It might take longer, but at least it’s more efficient ;).
Take a look at some of the disasters in the last two elections in the US – and, potentially, in the one happening tomorrow.
Mechanics of election: could U.S. voting meltdown history repeat itself?
November 3, 2008 – 18:53
Deborah Hastings, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
In 2000, the U.S. presidential election was marred by hanging chads in Florida.
Four years later, it was malfunctioning machines in Ohio.
With record numbers of U.S. voters expected yet again, the fundamental question remains whether the country’s embattled election machinery will stand up to the pressure.
This year’s unprecedented primary turnout has already exposed cracks in the infrastructure.
In Texas, lines stretched for hours and ballots ran out. Voters in Virginia were told to submit slips of paper – which were later disqualified – when ballot deliveries didn’t arrive, and overwhelmed poll workers in Washington, D.C., hid electronic machines because they were afraid of the contraptions.
“Right now, election officials probably identify with Sheriff Brody in ‘Jaws,’ who having seen the great white shark for the first time turns to his fellow passengers and remarks, ‘We’re gonna need a bigger boat,”‘ electionline.org director Doug Chapin said in a recent study of voting problems.
Read the rest of the story here. And, if I have it my way, expect the next election related debate to be about the use of yellow versus blue ballots ;).
If I remember correctly, which doesn’t happen too often these days, they said that it would take days before the winner would be known. There is also the fact that not only do they vote for the president of the United States for the next fours years, unless impeached, but they also vote for the representative in congress, at the state level, their sheriff, fire Marshall, city councilors, etc all on one ballot.