Agreed. There definitely needs to be a balance. But there are, imo, middle ground paths. If we just started with automatic voter registration for all adults, expanded the drop off ballot system, instituted a vote verification system for voters themselves (i.e., I get a slip receipt at my voting place and can verify how it was counted anytime with ability to dispute and challenge), mandated non-political population based districting and poling location placements (vs. allowing politically elected representatives to dictate), made voting day a mandatory holiday where everything shuts down, and got rid of this archaic stand in a group in a church caucus system, I think we’d see public trust in our election systems restored quite a bit. That being said, I recognize that this is, in our current environment, a pipe dream.
I can see that as a valid counter argument. To be honest I’m not informed enough on the data to be able to weigh the two properly against each other personally. Out of curiosity, do you think there could ever be a system (or have any been proposed that you’re aware of) that would help provide the transparency but not at the cost of loss of privacy and freedom of vote?
Agreed. There definitely needs to be a balance. But there are, imo, middle ground paths. If we just started with automatic voter registration for all adults, expanded the drop off ballot system, instituted a vote verification system for voters themselves (i.e., I get a slip receipt at my voting place and can verify how it was counted anytime with ability to dispute and challenge), mandated non-political population based districting and poling location placements (vs. allowing politically elected representatives to dictate), made voting day a mandatory holiday where everything shuts down, and got rid of this archaic stand in a group in a church caucus system, I think we’d see public trust in our election systems restored quite a bit. That being said, I recognize that this is, in our current environment, a pipe dream.
This one would enable vote-buying and voter intimidation
I can see that as a valid counter argument. To be honest I’m not informed enough on the data to be able to weigh the two properly against each other personally. Out of curiosity, do you think there could ever be a system (or have any been proposed that you’re aware of) that would help provide the transparency but not at the cost of loss of privacy and freedom of vote?
Paper ballots. Counted by hand.