On Saturday 27 May 2006 16:12, Ron Johnson wrote: > Paul Johnson wrote: > > On Saturday 27 May 2006 14:12, Steinar H. Gunderson wrote: > >> On Sat, May 27, 2006 at 01:54:03PM -0700, Paul Johnson wrote: > >>>>> Oregon abolished the voting booth in 2000 > >>>> > >>>> Oh, so they get better counts and less fraud by doing away with ballot > >>>> secrecy. How wonderful. > >>> > >>> No, that's not how it works, your ballot is still secret. Think about > >>> it for a minute. You sign the mailing envelope, your ballot goes in a > >>> secrecy envelope. Elections compares signatures, opens the mailing > >>> envelope and saves it for the voter rolls, sends the secrecy envelope > >>> down the line off to the counting machines to be opened separately in > >>> some other room. > >> > >> That is secrecy only to the government; not in general. For instance, > >> someone can easily pressure you into voting for party or candidate X, > >> _since they can verify it_ (just watch as you put the ballot in the > >> envelope, and make sure you post it). With a voting booth, nobody can > >> effectively pressure you, as your vote is secret from everybody. > > > > Nobody can effectively pressure you, except everyone else in line, > > campaigners trolling the polling place, and the inability to get the day > > off to vote because polling places are only open 4-6 hours on election > > day. If you want to ignore that vote by mail is more secure than the > > voting booth, that's fine. Don't move to Oregon. > > With vote-by-mail from the privacy (and seclusion) of your home, > who's to stop a political operative or angry husband from saying > "vote Democrat, or else!"? The fact you can go to the police, and you can vote wherever you please. If you're really that concerned about it, you can go down to county elections, say your ballot got lost in the mail or tell them that someone else coerced you (which voids the original ballot's mailing envelope, and if that mailing envelope gets cast, they void the ballot it contains) and they'll give you a fresh ballot and envelopes. You're welcome to vote at the elections office, but if you want privacy you're going to have to lock yourself in a restroom. Penalties for screwing with other people's votes here are severe. -- Paul Johnson Email and IM (XMPP & Google Talk): baloo@ursine.ca Jabber: Because it's time to move forward http://ursine.ca/Ursine:Jabber
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