They say readers should :
be openminded but cautious in their assessment of 'the nice Republican, man for the people, FL Gov. Crist' --who has mended a few broken fences but not the gates...[paper ballots but still BushRanger-corporate-coded and hackable computers as optical scanners and final vote-count tabulators]...
be wary of too much hoopla about the paper ballots---(it's like getting a used car with a really great new paint job, but who knows what the engine and transmission are like inside) ...
I would add:
America should be looking for any and all ways to make elections as safe and accurate as humanly possible, which includes making smaller precincts, (the size that could be counted by hand in about 3 hours), hand counting by people of all parties observed by people of all parties, double counting with open-source scanners if desired, but having the hand counting be the count of record; and having sufficient recounts and audits at no added cost, most of the work being done by citizens as their enjoyable civic duty...
Let's have local elected "Multipartisan Citizen Election Committees / Grand Juries" with the highest possible ethical standards, that control elections and verify them, all in the open. Each member can not be in office for longer than 3 years, cannot run again for 6 years, cannot be of the same party (independents and members of all parties can run) , can go to jail if they misbehave etc. They would have to approve of the Registrar of Voters and can have him or her replaced. They would have to sanction the election numbers before they are reported to the State, or Media.
No one could be hired as RoV with even a dot of doubt about their integrity, a hint of mistrust of previous election work, let alone the reported scandals associated with Michael Vu's and Mischelle Townsend's tenures in Ohio and Riverside, CA. They are the newly hired election officials of San Diego County!
Protecting democracy in America requires us to raise the bar on human behavior, to make rules that stop people from acting like mere people, that do not permit misbehavior, that punish misbehavior...
Some things are worth setting the highest standards for, and democracy in America is surely one. Will the Nelson Bill (S599) add to election good? Why not a package of bills for what is needed ? Just, Please, DON'T pass a bill that still permits or institutionalizes election fraud or uncertainty or distrust, by using hackable, secretive, often non-performing computers and relying on expensive, time-consuming audits and recounts, which the Holt Bill seems to do!
Brina-Rae
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http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4506#comments
FLORIDA MOVES TO PAPER BALLOTS!
