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114 Comments
- thinkb4utype, on 11/04/2009, -9/+97For taking away his right to vote, this guy should sue himself.
- ThsGuyRightHere, on 11/04/2009, -7/+93So why didn't he vote absentee? Problem solved.
- cclyde, on 11/04/2009, -3/+78He wasn't denied the right to vote. He chose not to vote on a computer. And, GuyRightHere makes an excellent point that he could have used an absentee ballot if he'd planned ahead a bit.
- parsifal, on 11/05/2009, -4/+75I hate computers, paper, talking, and listening. I want my vote to be collected telepathically. Furthermore, I want Digg expressed to me in American Sign Language. SERVE ME!!!
There's a line to be drawn between helping users use a system, and catering to whiners. This douchebag didn't have his _right to vote_ taken away. He opted not to vote because he couldn't do it the way he wanted to. Guess what? We all do this every day. Do you think I _want_ McDonald's hamburgers made out of ash and pine tar? Of course not!! But what do I do? I EAT them. And then I go home and cry. - jeremiahjw, on 11/05/2009, -4/+37He wasn't denied the right to vote...he denied himself the right to vote. If someone has a problem with paper it would be the same thing.
- primatage, on 11/04/2009, -14/+45While I understand the side that would cry havoc about this, I don't think anyone who refuses to acknowledge technology should HAVE the right to vote. Just sayin'.
- frcc, on 11/05/2009, -0/+24The problem with paper ballots is the trail they leave.
- akarsvp222, on 11/05/2009, -2/+26Did anyone catch that he went home and posted on an internet message board?
- tmonsta1, on 11/05/2009, -0/+20to quote George Carlin
you don't have rights... you have privileges... and the government can take them away any time they feel like it
kinda like Maine yesterday
and the Patriot Act
and the Internment Camps during WWII - Congzilla, on 11/05/2009, -2/+18ALL forms of voting are vulnerable to fraud.
There I fixed it for you. - janinekahn, on 11/04/2009, -2/+18If this was the case everywhere, my mother would never vote.
- johnwayne1, on 11/05/2009, -3/+18No, he's just being an ass. Next he'll refuse to register to vote.
- bdfariello, on 11/05/2009, -1/+15You've compromised yourself by posting here. Grab the kids and get out while you can. They could already be on their way with their torches and pitchforks.
- Skurt, on 11/05/2009, -1/+14So then the Amish don't vote there either?
- Eurynom0s, on 11/05/2009, -1/+12This guy's objections to electronic voting sound retarded, but to be serious, these touchscreen voting machines etc are just a disaster.
- Worldsday, on 11/05/2009, -0/+11I'd digg your comment up, but I'd have to write it down and mail it in
- Chakat, on 11/05/2009, -0/+10The Amish use a lot of technology in their lives -- their wagons are fiberglass, they use cell phones, etc. Many of the rules around technology are more along the lines of disallowing things that disrupt their actions within their close community. So while an Amish person with a PC would be frowned upon, they'd use electronic voting. That is, if they voted. Most Amish don't get involved with "the english" for things like voting.
- crackerjack20, on 11/05/2009, -3/+12That's the exact opposite from what I encountered at my rural voting place. I live out in the boonies with a bunch of really old republican farmers. When I showed up at 10am to vote, over 200 people had already voted, and I was the first person to ask to use their compute rtouchscreen voting machine. The old lady who checked my id really wanted me to use a paper ballot, but I had 2 kids with me. My youngest was in my arms and will steal anything I try to write with and would tear up the paper or eat it, but all the old people gave me grumpy looks the whole time. Today I checked the voting results for that precinct, and 97% voted republican on all the candidates. I'm sure in a minority here. I like to use computers and I don't like ultra-christian conservatives and I support gay right and equality for all.
- lurrch1, on 11/05/2009, -2/+10We shouldn't support such superstitions.
- Kaegro, on 11/05/2009, -5/+13The guy is just trying to be a douche, and it's working.
- chunkybeefstu, on 11/05/2009, -0/+7Hey, you leave ash and pine tar out of this.
No use in ruining the reputation of the smooth flavor of pine tar and smoky aroma of ash by comparing it to McDonald's hamburgers. - bobburn1, on 11/05/2009, -1/+7He didn't refuse to vote on a computer because he hates technology, read the article. It states that he is wary of the lack of security on these machines (which is a very real threat).
- chunkybeefstu, on 11/05/2009, -0/+6I DON'T KNOW WHY I AM POSTING ON THIS SITE. IT IS MAKING ME MORE ANGRY THAN I WAS PREVIOUSLY.
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE - cizzlebolicious, on 11/05/2009, -0/+6I have a hard time believing that. I live in a very rural conservative area (with really old republican farmers - less than 1,000 residents in the entire town) and I got weird stares because I voted paper. There were 5 voting machines and one place to vote paper.
The "Republicans are stupid/illiterate/afraid of technology" bias on Digg is similar to what one would see on Free Republic or another similar site against Democrats.
And I am not a Republican btw - Congzilla, on 11/05/2009, -1/+7I had it correct, and I am sure a few million people in Florida and Afghanistan would agree.
- Visual77, on 11/05/2009, -1/+6My thoughts exactly. This isn't about him hating computers, but about the mistrust in companies like Diebold and ES&S, companies with known problems in their software and known ties to certain political parties. I'm a computer programmer for a living and spend upwards of 18 hours a day infront of one, but voting electronically still makes me a bit leery because of the past 10 years worth of ***** that has been surrounding electronic voting machines.
- gaymathman, on 11/05/2009, -1/+6Advanced technology absolutely sucks at certain things; computers don't provide a guaranteed write-once solution, which is very convenient for handling votes or recording history. You can't easily change the words in a book or newspaper, but changing what is written on a hard drive is trivial. There even is this site on the web called Wikipedia where anyone can edit it, and (very, very rarely) there are things that are very, very wrong on it.
- IKORKYI, on 11/05/2009, -0/+5Well I hate computers AND paper and I refuse to vote on either! How am I supposed to vote!?!?!
- gaymathman, on 11/05/2009, -2/+7He definitely is an ass; he said at the end he no longer votes in federal elections. That being said, I also hate paper-trail free e-voting machines, as it is in effect a black box. You do not know what it does, but must assume it tallies votes accurately and fairly. Just printing a little slip with the names, or an abbreviation and an orientation marker, would be easy enough and many machines do it. He could have just used one of those if they were available, or sucked it up and dealt with the absolutely minuscule chance that the software was biased towards a candidate.
- nonomad, on 11/05/2009, -6/+11So we've learned nothing from the whole Diebold voting machine *****? We are gonna write this guy off as some nut job who hates computers because he refuses to use an electronic voting machine? I support this guy completely and probably would have done the same thing, especially if I lived in Texas where the minority voice is rarely heard save for, one would hope, in an open election. The fact that they didn't have alternative paper ballots is a little fishy. It's not that hard to print 1000 paper ballots for people who don't want to use the machines that are very probably vulnerable to tampering. Until we develop a tamper-proof electronic system (probably impossible) keep the paper trail.
- jayjayjoni, on 11/05/2009, -0/+4I volunteered in last year's presidential election. A number of people just prefer to use paper ballots rather than the computers for personal reasons.
- umanomano, on 11/05/2009, -0/+4After viewing his website, I can see why he hates using computers.
- WeBeGood, on 11/05/2009, -0/+4Problem solved.....Not.
Everyone else is still going to vote on e-slate machines, that have no paper trail, and therefore the votes cannot be verified to have been recorded or counted correctly. There is no way to recount the votes, no way to verify the "actual" software used during the "actual" election was correct. Without a paper trail, e-slate is just bunch of pretty pictures displayed on a computer screen. A three year old's toy, that lights up when i push buttons, cool.
E-Slate, by Mattel, your children can now "play" vote with their friends. Absentee ballots included. - Mav88, on 11/05/2009, -0/+3I'm pretty sure the article is wrong...I've been signed up for absentee voting for the past 4 years and no where did i have to state that i would be "out of town". In fact many people i know vote absentee simply because they dont want to go to the polling places to vote and would rather do it in their own home.
But then again I live in CA, things might be different where this person is. - nunlover, on 11/05/2009, -0/+3So I guess we can say anything we want about him on here.
- BigSwole, on 11/05/2009, -5/+8what a n00b
- ThsGuyRightHere, on 11/05/2009, -1/+4That's what I get for not RTFA'ing. So my revised solution is to vote absentee then go out of town on election day. Maybe he could look for vacation deals on priceline.
- kartman2001, on 11/05/2009, -0/+3FTA:
"Technically, you could vote by a mailed absentee ballot, but that would involve swearing you will be out of town on election day. Anyone who has a Code of Honor that prevents using computers would surely balk at lying." - Congzilla, on 11/05/2009, -1/+4But it isn't his concern. He was given the opportunity to vote and refused, it is all on him.
- cizzlebolicious, on 11/05/2009, -0/+3I always vote paper ballot, and I am very computer literate. It is one of those things that may not really matter in the big scheme of things, but I personally do not support the flawed proprietary electronic voting machines.
- vinod1978, on 11/05/2009, -0/+3But if the option was either vote on a computer, or don't vote at all then you are an idiot if you don't vote on a computer. Agreed - the paper option should have been made available. And he should have complained to his representative - but that is no excuse not to vote.
- Sux4Bux, on 11/05/2009, -0/+3Electronic voting machine? Don't worry buddy it probably wouldn't have counted your vote anyways.
- SystemicThought, on 11/05/2009, -0/+3I think that this guy takes the Simpsons a little too seriously. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aBaX9GPSaQ
- LeepII, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2We can not have any evidence of how people actually voted, all votes must be on computer!
- bobburn1, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2Also, he's not a ***** Luddite:
"there have been problems with the computer voting system since its exception. There haev been probelms in national elections where the votes have been changed. KPFT Pokey Anderson has been doing reports on the problems with computer voting for a while now. I dont think my vote will serve justice using the computer system I wanted to know whatas wrong with having both ways of voting. I ended up being told that I had to bring it up with my state rep. As was told to me the state has made it so that voting by paper ballot is all but eliminated.."
It's a perfectly logical and reasonable response. Without a paper readout I wouldn't vote on an computerized voting machine either. - Mav88, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2Since when do you have to "swear to be out of town" to vote absentee? Absentee voting has been implemented in a lot of places for people who just don't have the time to go to the polling places or just do not want to.
- newfrickinshow, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2I agree with the possibility of vote stealing and prefer voting methods that leave a paper trail, but the man wasn't denied his right. He just wasn't willing to take it the way it was offered. If the precinct you were in used punch cards and if someone didn't like them could they demand butterfly ballots? No.
- scottpigeon, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2Well the complaints about it not being secure and fudging votes with no way to verify have been going on for a long time. Yet nothing is being done about it. The companies making these machines keep making contracts, the source code is not released, and people have video evidence of their "final onscreen review" being different than what they chose. How hard could it be for the computer to print out a receipt based verbatim on what is saved, and a unique id so the discrepancies can be dealt with and complaints filed on the spot? He shouldn't have to put his faith in the black box of mystery.
I bet the system relies on the fact that even though people know these problems, they still will go ahead and vote, because some chance of making a difference is better than none. I did last Tuesday, and asked the worker if "the thingy prints out a receipt or something", already knowing the answer. That's how they get away with it.
The guy should continue to complain, but it was dumb of himself to guarantee his disenfranchisement more than the machine could. - lukedude, on 11/05/2009, -1/+31. It's "ballot"
2. You're wrong - javakah, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2Something similar happened to me last year during the presidential election. All they had at my voting precint (in Virginia) were computers. I asked if I could cast my vote by paper. They seemed bewildered, and tried to figure out what to do. Eventually they called their supervisor, and were told that I couldn't vote by paper, that I had to vote using the computer or not vote. In the end, I gave in and just voted on the computer (was wife getting annoyed with me). Virginia doesn't have no-excuse absentee voting, so I couldn't vote that way.
I'm hardly a Luddite. I'm a computer programmer, and definitely a tech enthusiast, but I think most techies should be wary of these computerized voting systems where no real verification exists. -
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