We should always be able to have proof that we voted, and proof that our votes were counted. We also need to have paper ballots available for recount by hand. The recent fiasco in Mendocino County, where a memory stick went corrupt, losing thousands of votes, is just a minor example of how fallable electronic devices are. Heck! Ask anyone who owns a computer!
When I went into the polls on election day, there were many voting booths made of inexpensive cardboard they must have cost at most $50. In the corner was the touch-screen computer voting device must have cost thousands! I asked the trained (at public expense) poll worker about it and he assured me it was foolproof. I was dying to find out until I saw the tampering warning. He mentioned that it was made in Texas a sure sign of its quality! It seems to me that the “Help America Vote” act was just a scam to keep companies like Diebold (and their investors) in the long green.
This year there were fewer polling places two precincts were represented in one firehouse where I voted making it harder to vote for those without automotive transportation. I think it would be a better idea to keep the cardboard booths and spend the thousands on free transportation for voters and more polling places.
Mark Henson
Upper Lake
