Our voting system is pathetic.

Discussion in 'Elections & Campaigns' started by JDliberal, Nov 10, 2018.

  1. JDliberal

    JDliberal Well-Known Member

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    As Americans, we should be ashamed of how bad our voting system is currently functioning. Florida is just the epitome of how bad this voting system is functioning, but all states are inefficient, vulnerable, and prone to tampering from within our political system. Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, an argument can be made for tampering with our voting system. Typically, people would argue about investigating the legitimacy of each claim, but these arguments are missing the main problem. The main problem is our voting system is archaic which allows for inefficiencies in voting, vulnerabilities to outside influence, and tampering from within our political systems.

    We need to update our voting system. These updates should focus on two key goals. First, it should allow for people to vote with efficiency and ease. Second, it should be secure (at least more secure than we have currently). I would argue that we should allow for online voting. I know the concerns with this and the security risks. I admit that online voting would not be 100% secure, but neither is our current voting system. The better criteria for this would be: is it more secure than we have and does it allow for voting to be done more efficiently with the ability to engage more voters? If it can fulfill these criteria, we should switch. I would love if more tests would be done on blockchain voting systems that verify our identity using biometrics. I would want to know how secure they are, and if we could adapt them for people that are not tech savvy. If it is more secure than what we have, we should switch. If we could have a system that we could verify every vote to a specific unique ID, we would need people to have a specific ID. Their identity would be known when they register to vote. Furthermore, people would be able to vote via electronic devices. This would encourage more people to participate in our democratic process. Overall, these changes could soothe concerns from both sides. We would have identity verification systems that would be more stringent than any type of photo identification. Additionally, we could remove many of the possible ways in which either party could tamper with the voting. Finally, this would allow for more people to vote securely without having to sacrifice hours in lines. The exact level of security and the implementation of this system would take years to discover, but it is a change that is needed. We need to renew our faith in our election systems. I am not claiming that blockchain is the only way of achieving this, but it is one type of system that has high potential for achieving the goals that I set forth in this post. It will not be 100% secure, but it would have potential to be more secure than what we currently have.
     
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  2. apexofpurple

    apexofpurple Well-Known Member

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    We are more than capable of constructing a national ID program that would serve as the foundation for many things including streamlining and therefore safeguarding the election process. The REAL ID Act is a start but needs modification and enhancement in order to become a true replacement for other forms of identification that various laws require and accept.
     
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  3. The Wyrd of Gawd

    The Wyrd of Gawd Well-Known Member

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    How about creating a new voting system?

    1. People in the town or city elect the mayor.
    2. The mayors in the cities and towns in the county elect the County Board of Supervisors.
    3. The County Boards of Supervisors elect the State Senators and State Representatives.
    4. The State Senators and State Representatives elect the Governors.
    5. The Governors appoint the Congress Critters and elect the President.
     
  4. JDliberal

    JDliberal Well-Known Member

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    True, but security is only part of the problem. Allowing access in reasonable amount of times is another concern.
     
  5. modernpaladin

    modernpaladin Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Its simply too easy to manipulate data surreptitiously. Even the most secure networks on the planet are not 100% secure, and they never will be. Something as important as voting will be too big of a target- it will be compromised.

    Voting machines should involve both a physical and a digital vote. One that goes into the cloud, and one that is transported to be counted. A comparison between the digital and physical results would illuminate tampering.
     
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  6. JDliberal

    JDliberal Well-Known Member

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    Voting machines are quite hackable right now. As for data manipulation, blockchain will prevent that and it currently does for cryptocurrency. The tougher security problems would be securing the connections to the voting systems with blockchains. We could start with still using paper ballets that provide an additional layer of verification of data to soothe your concerns. Do you think our voting system is 100% secure right now? If not, how secure do you think they are?
     
  7. Texas Republican

    Texas Republican Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    It's only dysfunctional in areas controlled by the Democrats.
     
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  8. JDliberal

    JDliberal Well-Known Member

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    How do you define dysfunctional?
     
  9. Texas Republican

    Texas Republican Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    South Florida is dysfunctional. It's a third world corner of America, run by Democrats.
     
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  10. JDliberal

    JDliberal Well-Known Member

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    South Florida is quite large region. It contains both Republican districts (e.g., Florida 25 and 19) and Dem districts (e.g., Florida 20, 22, and 26). You might want to be a bit more specific
     
  11. ModCon

    ModCon Well-Known Member

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    I can't get on board with the idea of web based voting. There's no way that people with bad intentions won't find a way to hack it. Not just once, but in response to each "fix" the administrators put into place, forget about an inside job. But I'd agree with the sentiment that there are problems with the current system.
     
  12. JDliberal

    JDliberal Well-Known Member

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    I agree that it would be hackable, but our machines are already vulnerable. There are multiple reports on how our current machines are vulnerable. I will link an article at the bottom, but there have been multiple people that have been successful in hacking copies of voting machines.

    https://arstechnica.com/information...f-hack-that-could-flip-the-electoral-college/

    https://www.wired.com/story/voting-machine-vulnerabilities-defcon-voting-village/

    https://www.inverse.com/article/480...sed-in-18-states-can-be-hacked-in-two-minutes

    My personal favorite of an 11 year old hacking:
    http://time.com/5366171/11-year-old-hacked-into-us-voting-system-10-minutes/
     
    Last edited: Nov 10, 2018
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  13. modernpaladin

    modernpaladin Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Nope. The problem with paper is they can be dissapeared or manufacrured just like data. However, if we had both, large discrepencies between the two would require a lot of coordination to hide, likely more than is possible. It'd be like trying to coordinate 100 banks robberies at once across the nation.
     
  14. TRFjr

    TRFjr Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I never understood why do we need to register every time we vote
    that should be a one time deal as long as you don't move
    you register that one time you get an ID with either a chip or magnetic strip and a picture on it. It actually can be part of you drivers license or any other state Issued ID
    then when you go and vote you show your ID with the picture to the poll attendant swipe your card at the voting machine and vote then the results from each machine is retrieved that night after the polls are closed and there you have it
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2018
  15. FatBack

    FatBack Well-Known Member

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    Broward county, Parkland shooting, coward deputy stood outside, cowering. Democrat sheriff ignored juvenile crime to cook the books.

    A long history of bungled elections (Al Gore, 2000, hanging chad, ring a bell?)

    Supervisor of elections destroyed ballots illegally in 2016, rigging it for Debby who rigged it against Bernie.

    Please don't say Florida, put the blame where it belongs... Broward county, the political anus of Fl. Democrat county.
     
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  16. Antiduopolist

    Antiduopolist Well-Known Member

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    The entire political process is a sham.

    The actual voting procedure is just a tiny aspect of that.
     
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  17. Bluesguy

    Bluesguy Well-Known Member Donor

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    The only problems we seem to have is where DEMOCRATS are running the elections. Florida did just fine including the counties which had just been hit by a hurricane except for DEMOCRAT controlled counties where they proved totally incompetent and there appears to evidence of ballot tampering.

    My son works are NSA in cybersecurity and we were discussing and he said you want to open it up to problems and security issues, put it online. The voting system has to be COMPLETELY OFF THE WEB..............DOUBLE PERIOD. He called it keeping it offair. NOT outside connection.

    The only security problems I know of being reported are in Democrat county where ballots are being created and shipped around without proper safeguards and chain of evidence and then officials trying to count ballots improperly and failing to follow proper proceedures.

    You open it up to onlne and electronic devices you just opened up a window in.

    It's real simple, take your ID down to the polling place after you have properly registered, get your paper ballot and mark it then put it through an optical scanner that has never been on the internet and has no capability of being on the internet and vote. Then officials at the end of the day write down the counts from each machine and call them in to the county office where they are tabulated and then into the state office where they are tabulated. It ain't rocket science.
     
  18. Bluesguy

    Bluesguy Well-Known Member Donor

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    I registered at my current address 35 years ago and have never had to register again and have never had a problem casting my vote.
     
  19. Bluesguy

    Bluesguy Well-Known Member Donor

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    Only if you put them online on the internet. Keep them offline, off air and then make sure local officials follow proper procedures and if they don't fire them and if possible charge them with a crime.
     
  20. TRFjr

    TRFjr Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I guess rules are different per state I have to fill out a voter registration card every election it gets sent to me in the mail
    but I still advocate the idea of having a card with your picture and which you swipe at the voting both
     
  21. Bluesguy

    Bluesguy Well-Known Member Donor

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    I get a new card in the mail every year showing my registration but I don't have to complete anything to send back.
     
  22. Kode

    Kode Well-Known Member

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    Not all. Here in Oregon we have had a vote-by-mail system since 1998. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vote-by-mail_in_Oregon

    "Oregon has the most convenient voting system in the country. Since adopting vote-by-mail, Oregon consistently ranks as a national leader in voter turnout.

    Registered voters receive a ballot two to three weeks before an election, giving time to research issues or candidates.

    Voters also receive an official ballot to complete and insert into the security envelope which is placed in the ballot return envelope and signed by the voter. The ballot return envelope can be stamped and mailed or dropped off at any official drop box across the state. If a voter casts their ballot after the Wednesday before an election, the ballot should be left at a drop box site to ensure it's counted
    ."
    https://sos.oregon.gov/voting/Pages/voteinor.aspx


    I've been using it since it's inception, -20 years now, -and it works great. A reliable system is possible. It's just a matter of will.
     
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  23. Kode

    Kode Well-Known Member

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    Voter ID isn't necessary, and voting can be made much more convenient with no waiting in lines. See my previous post above.
     
  24. Kode

    Kode Well-Known Member

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    That's nuts!
     
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  25. Kode

    Kode Well-Known Member

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    LOL!!!! Good rightie. Turn it around to its opposite.

    See my first post above.
     

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