Was the new ballot a Jackson only thing or is it statewide? No more touch screens? Have to fill out a scantron?
New ballots?
- Thread starter dawgstudent
- Start date
What's the "new ballot"? Here, we have a ballot on a single large sheet of cardstock. We take a Sharpie and fill in lines for the candidates that we want to vote for. When finished, we take it to a machine, stick it in the slot, and it sucks it in and presumably counts the votes. I like this method. As someone said, there's an audit trail and recounts are easy if necessary.
Never had touchscreen here. Before the current method, we'd go into a booth and flip levers, similar to marking the large card, then pull a lever to record the votes.
When I was in Mississippi, I seem to recall we used paper ballots and put them in a box with a slot on top, then later on somebody manually counted them. Nothing electronic about that at all. Of course, at that time computer punchcards were just coming into existence ....
Never had touchscreen here. Before the current method, we'd go into a booth and flip levers, similar to marking the large card, then pull a lever to record the votes.
When I was in Mississippi, I seem to recall we used paper ballots and put them in a box with a slot on top, then later on somebody manually counted them. Nothing electronic about that at all. Of course, at that time computer punchcards were just coming into existence ....
I thought voting was standardized across the state but I guess I was wrong.
Anyway - in Jackson - they used to have touch screens. Was just real quick and easy to vote. Now - you have to bubble in your vote and then take it to the scanner for them to count it. For a big election - this is going to take so much longer.
Anyway - in Jackson - they used to have touch screens. Was just real quick and easy to vote. Now - you have to bubble in your vote and then take it to the scanner for them to count it. For a big election - this is going to take so much longer.
I thought it was standardized too, pretty much across the nation. I disagree that it takes longer to darken in the circles in a big election. With touchscreen voting you have to navigate through several screens to cast your vote and can never see your entire ballot at once (except maybe at the very end). With the scan pages, you just have 1 sheet of paper. I do agree that if you had to stand there and wait for your ballot to be scanned, that's ridiculous. Just put it in the box with the rest of the ballots and let them all be scanned later.
Touchpad voter systems sound like a great idea until you study the cost associated with software licensing, maintenance, programming, training, trouble-shooting, and security/integrity. Once you add all that **** up, you realize how expensive it is to use them. And, the units have a useful life of less than 10 years. But perhaps the biggest issue with touchpads is the reality of where we live and who it is that handles the election day procedures at most of the polling places. Seriously, are we really expecting 84 year old women to set up and handle this sort of equipment?
I like the paper ballots...
Much easier to recount too. There is no hard-copy of your vote with the touch screens.
It was quick and easy...
Much easier to recount too. There is no hard-copy of your vote with the touch screens.
It was quick and easy...
Might take longer, but won't be a problem. Madison County (Alabama) is about 50% larger than Hinds County, and we normally have preliminary results in an hour or so after the polls close. So it's pretty fast. And the voting process itself usually doesn't take long. Of course, it depends on how many candidates there are, and whether there are long amendments or whatever ... and whether people do their homework and know how to vote, or if they have to read things for the first time when they're voting. Sometimes there are lines, such as a presidential election, but normally it's no more than a half hour, and that's really unusual. Normally it takes me no more than 5 minutes.
Seems to me that there is more room for error (for accidental touches) on a touchscreen, not to mention most people are too stupid to be able to operate it. But I'm used to the scanner. At least with either method there are no hanging chads to deal with ....
Seems to me that there is more room for error (for accidental touches) on a touchscreen, not to mention most people are too stupid to be able to operate it. But I'm used to the scanner. At least with either method there are no hanging chads to deal with ....
We just stick our ballots in and the machine sucks it right in. Takes about a second, if that.
And unless things have changed, there's no standardization at all across the nation. I think Dixville Notch still uses paper ballots and hand-counting. But they've only got a few voters. And Florida in 2000 had several methods in the state, including the punch cards, scanners, and touchscreen. Not sure what it is here in Alabama ... just know what it is here in Huntsville/Madison County.
And unless things have changed, there's no standardization at all across the nation. I think Dixville Notch still uses paper ballots and hand-counting. But they've only got a few voters. And Florida in 2000 had several methods in the state, including the punch cards, scanners, and touchscreen. Not sure what it is here in Alabama ... just know what it is here in Huntsville/Madison County.