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How to build the ideal voting machine
All voting methods, from paper ballots to punch cards to electronic voting, have their problems. Punch cards can leave hanging chads. Electronic machines may not give you a paper trail and may be more easily hacked. Lever voting machines can get stuck at 99 and may not register your vote. Even lowly paper may have scrutineers who question whether your X really means X. In fact, DVICE has researched every type of machine, identified their weaknesses, and mapped where they all are on an interactive map.
But once you've looked at all current election tech, the next logical question is: What would the ideal voting machine look like? If none of the current technologies are perfect, why not go A-Team on the problem and make a mashup of the best of everything we've got, combining it all into the perfect voting machine? We performed this thought experiment and came up with four key things the ideal voting machine should allow for. Hit Continue for more.
1. Foolproof Ballot Design
Douglas Jones, voting technology expert at the University of Iowa, says most voting scandals involve ballot design, not technology flaws. From Florida's butterfly ballot in 2000 to this election's straight-ticket issues in Texas, design flaws cause more misvotes than anything directly related to the machines themselves. The ideal voting machine would use touchscreen technology — it can present selections more clearly and break down contests into separate screens that voters can scroll through, ensuring that you've made a choice before moving to the next screen.
2. A Paper Trail
Surely we can apply all the knowledge we've learned from coat checks and 50/50 drawings to one of our most important duties as citizens. One of the biggest complaints of voters with new technologies is that they don't get a receipt. Of course, in the days of paper ballots, you didn't get one then, either. But whether it's a touchscreen, an optical scanner or even a punch card, there's no reason you can't get a paper receipt of your choices. The ideal machine would provide a two-piece ballot with a unique serial number — one quickly scannable half that you hand in to the election officials, one easily readable half that you keep. Not only would you have a cooler memento than that "I voted" sticker, you also have a backup in case of recount shenanigans.
3. A Physical Confirmation
In Las Vegas, many slot machines still have handles even though they're fully electronic. Why? People like pulling the handle even though "pressing the spin button or yanking the handle has no bearing on the outcome of a spin," says gaming guru Mark Pilarski. Lever machines, paper balloting and punch cards have the same effect on the voter — you feel like you've done something real. So the ideal machine should have a way to let you feel like you've locked in your vote before moving on to the next choice. Whatever the underlying technology, a slot machine handle would be a plus.
4. Durability and Presence
While lever machines are big and bulky, most touchscreen voting machines aren't much larger than a big laptop. Punch-card machines are even smaller. While portability is a plus, voters are reassured by durability and heft. The ideal machine would balance the two, and be about the size of a small video lottery terminal. To ensure they're efficiently transportable, they should only weigh about 10-15 lbs, with a 15-inch screen. The case would be made of hard plastic with a carrying handle. The original Mac design is a good example.
By nevets at 9:25 AM ON 11/03/08
NC uses a scantron type ballot (think SATs), you have to mean it when you fill out the little circle. And, if you aren't capable of filling in the little circle you really shouldn't be allowed to vote
By ACovert at 9:47 AM ON 11/03/08
Why don't we have the makers of ATMs design and build voting machines. ATMs already have fast responsive touchscreen, they are commonly used by the public, they are designed to be tampered proof, they have secure networking communication methods and they already give a paper receipt for the transaction. Why reinvent what is already been built?
By vfx2k4 at 10:37 AM ON 11/03/08
Lol! Google a little company called Diebold before you open your mouth at the next dinner conversation regarding your brilliant idea of ATM makers getting into the voting machine business.
By bomshack at 10:50 AM ON 11/03/08
This post is overly simplistic. 4 bullet points to build the perfect voting machine? Really?
As a member of a team working on designing the next generation voting machine for one of the bigger companies in the industry, I know that there are a great deal more issues than you are bringing up here.
The problem with touchscreen only is that if they break down there is no backup. A power outage would essentially invalidate all results for that precinct. Some states do not, by law allow touchscreen only voting.
A paper trail is essential, but if taken home it may be used to prove that individuals voted the way that outside influences wanted them to - eg union strong arming. This is a concern - to the extent that ballot box design attempts to randomize the order in which paper ballots stack up so that the pile and voting order are not identical.
Additionally the paper trail is useless if everyone takes the paper home with them - it has to be kept at the voting site so that the tabulated numbers and paper votes can be compared against each other.
Touchscreen voting machines tend to be small because they lack a ballot box. It is much more challenging to design a ballot box for 1000s of votes that is the size of an iMac (and includes a printer, backup battery for a minimum of 2 hours, paper handling mechanism and removable tabulating storage, all behind individually lockable compartments.
There is also the whole ADA requirement for blind voters, wheelchair bound voters...etc.
The biggest issue with electronic voting machines is security. You have to pre load the election into the machine so the access has to be there, but you also have to maintain total security with no access to the hardware. No open system is infallible, seals can be broken, officials can be corrupt or coerced...etc.
Then remember these things are typically set up on the day of the election by little old ladies who volunteer and are not the strongest, most tech savvy people.
Here is some light reading with the newest (revised in 2007) federal guidelines:
http://vote.nist.gov/meeting-03222007/VVSG-SETdraft-20070306v5.pdf
Warning - big pdf - 500+ pages!
By tanders at 10:54 AM ON 11/03/08
What good does a "receipt" do me?
Even if there was voter fraud, how would I know if mine was one of them? I guess the only thing I could do is go down to the SOS's office with everyone else in the state and wave around our "receipt", that would be useful...
'Bout the only thing I can see it being useful for is posterity. Telling your grandkids "I voted for x, see".
By ReeyferMadness at 11:31 AM ON 11/03/08
The only time I ever see us having a "perfect" vote is once we've got some type of actual conscious AI to look over the process. That's about the only way you can really do it - a being which knows what's going on watching every single person cast their vote who will recognize them all, recognize that they're voting as they do it, and remember their vote - copying the memory hundreds or thousands of times just like the human brain does so that it cannot be effectively erased, but at the same time recovering all of that info with infinitely more speed and processing power. A being such as this, assuming you could make it impartial (I think it's going to be pretty hard to code imparitality in an AI whose simplest thought is by definition going to be more complex than any impariality code you could come up with :P) keeping track of every single vote could potentially insure a fair count. Otherwise... well, there's a reason this is supposed to be a republic and not a democracy. As the founding fathers knew, voter fraud and inaccuracy doesn't even begin to stack up against the damage done by the pure stupidity of any group as large as the United States trying to make a decision together.
Never ask why democratic elections are so least common denominator.
By EnOne at 2:47 PM ON 11/03/08
receipts, bad; paper printouts for recounts, good. People stopped getting receipts because you could sell your vote and have proof of who you voted for.
Look at Slot Machines makers not ATM makers, they are almost impossible to hack and can count. Those guys know how to build a machine that is nearly tamper proof, reliable and easy to use.
By Craysh at 6:54 PM ON 11/03/08
I always thought that electronic voting machines could be easily done.
1) Electronic polling would only count as exit polling. Not official
2) A printed voting card would be the actual count. Something that's human readable so it can be verified.
3) If it's wrong, you can reinsert it within five minutes (where it's shredded) to recast your vote.
4) The printed voting form is the actual vote. Placed in a lock box.
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Craysh:
I always thought that electronic voting machines could be easily done. 1) Electronic polling would only count as ex...More »