voting

[Bill Frantz]

One area we are not addressing in voting security is absentee ballots.  The
use of absentee ballots is rising in US elections, and is even being
advocated as a way for individuals to get a printed ballot in jurisdictions
which use electronic-only voting machines.  Political parties are
encouraging their supporters to vote absentee.  I believe that one election
in Oregon was recently held entirely with absentee ballots.

For classic polling place elections, one strength of an electronic system
which prints paper ballots is that there are two separate paths for the
counts.  The machine can keep its own totals and report them at the end of
the election.  These totals can then be compared with the totals generated
for that precinct by counting the paper ballots.  This redundancy seems to
me to provide higher security than either system alone.

Cheers - Bill


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Bill Frantz        | "There's nothing so clear as a | Periwinkle
(408)356-8506      | vague idea you haven't written | 16345 Englewood Ave
www.pwpconsult.com | down yet." -- Dean Tribble     | Los Gatos, CA 95032


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