21st Century Poll Tax

Via Damfacrats

The most disgusting thing about the 2000 Florida debacle is that it has been used to badger state after state into "modernizing" their polling systems. The results have been catastrophic for the most fundamental function of a democratic system of government. Our very right to vote has been severely compromised. In California, Georgia, and Maryland, voters are already feeling the effects.

In California, where Tuesday marked the first statewide elections without any punch-card machines, touchscreens in San Diego County made by election equipment giant Diebold Inc. failed to boot properly. The mishap caused delays up to two hours and forced some voters to other polling places to cast paper ballots.

Other counties in California, Georgia and Maryland reported problems with encoders, the devices that allow touch-screen computers to display candidate and ballot measures specific to one county.

In Maryland's Howard County, a computer server could not receive electronic data over a conventional modem, forcing a 90-minute delay while poll workers hand-delivered data cards to the registrar.

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Computer scientists say electronic systems expose elections to hackers, software bugs and power outages -- with potentially catastrophic consequences. They're upset that hardly any voting terminals include printers or produce paper records, making accurate recounts impossible.

In addition to being unnecessary, unsecure, and unreliable the new voting systems are unfair. On a daily basis, I am confronted with the frustration of library patrons who are increasingly forced to use the computer to apply for jobs or financial aid, contact elected representatives, file taxes, etc. A great majority of these patrons are woefully computer illiterate. Many are poor to middle class. Most are African American. These folks generally come to us out of absolute necessity. If they had and option to do these things another way (or not at all) they would take it. The new equipment, much like a Jim Crow style literacy test will undoubtedly deter people from exercising their right to vote. This is unacceptable. The denial of franchise to any one of us at any time constitutes a critical failure of our very democracy. Try telling that to these people.

Kimball Brace, president of Washington-based political consulting firm Election Data Services, said it's unrealistic to expect thousands of poll workers nationwide to get up to speed on complicated equipment immediately. Most states require several hours of training for volunteer poll workers, who are often scarce and aren't required to have particular computer skills.

"It's usually a couple of elections before you can get the bugs out of a new process," Brace said. "Eventually, things will go smoother, but the first couple times will have bugs, no matter what system you switch to."

So I guess we lose a couple of elections to progress. What passes for representative government in the meantime? Perhaps a council of elders?

Also: Helping America Vote?