11-06-2012, 12:41 PM
You can thank Florida's hanging of all those Chads, and making all those Chadettes pregnant. You can also thank your political party (and mine) for making this act law, which REQUIRED electronic voting means, and removed any requirements for a paper trail.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help_America_Vote_Act
Personally I was always happy with either the punch cards or the good old lever machines. Yes, it requires a staff of people to count the votes, tabulate them, and get them out. And it's not fast. But it works.
I also blame our obsession with requiring instant results.
Ever work a project where everyone around you is hollering for you to finish tabulating huge amounts of paper and give 'the number' ? I have, and it's painful and frustrating. It's easy to make mistakes under that kind of stress.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help_America_Vote_Act
Personally I was always happy with either the punch cards or the good old lever machines. Yes, it requires a staff of people to count the votes, tabulate them, and get them out. And it's not fast. But it works.
I also blame our obsession with requiring instant results.
Ever work a project where everyone around you is hollering for you to finish tabulating huge amounts of paper and give 'the number' ? I have, and it's painful and frustrating. It's easy to make mistakes under that kind of stress.