12/11/04

There has been much debate on how to eliminate election fraud. Many believe that a "paper trail" would solve the problem. Others believe in a secured electronic "state-of-the-art" system, while some still have confidence in the "punch card" method. "Touch screens" have made it simple for many voters, but have raised some eyebrows. Regardless of how votes are collected and counted, ALL of our existing (and above mentioned) systems are vulnerable to manipulation.

But how is this problem corrected? How can the voters be confident that their election is fair and accurate? There is a simple fail-safe process to eliminate fraudulent activities. Without going into too much detail, this process is discussed below.

Regardless of the voting method (punch cards, scanners, touch screens, paper, other electronic devices ...), each voter must be given the ability to verify that their vote was counted correctly, much like balancing one's own check book at month end. Of course, this balancing process would be optional. Through this new verifiable vote process, we would be able to uncover any vote tampering or manipulation. Any discrepancies between the voter's selection (a paper trail would help) and the final vote count would be reported or challenged by the voter. If there's an abnormal amount of vote anomalies, then an audit flag would be raised for possible election fraud.

This new verification method does, however, bring up the issue of a "secret ballot". One could possibly "sell" their vote (which is against the law anyway) because they would now have "proof" of their vote. However, accuracy of the vote is (in my opinion) more important than a few illegal sellers.

The above process verification might delay the election results, but at least the true winner would be declared. We can no longer afford to have the wrong candidate in office for another 2 to 4 years. Vote discrepancies would be seriously investigated, as there should be no anomalies. Of course, any discovered tampering of the vote would also be seriously dealt with.

We must have a voting process that is both simple and flexible. But at the same time, the system must have its checks and balances. What better way to verify vote accuracy, then by the voters themselves!