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Having gone through the "fiasco" of e-voting in
2007--the sort of mess that the Republicans and Democrats don't seem to mind at all--Scotland will go back to voting the old-fashioned way: hand-counted paper
ballots.
Although that method too (of course) enables fraud, the possibilities for
election theft are infinitely greater with computerized systems, as we've seen in
this faltering democracy time after time.
Funny how the Tea-Baggers (or most of them), for all their
hatred
of "the government,"don't seem to mind "the government" deploying
electronic means to count their votes.
And it is just as funny (although it's really not the least bit
funny) that the Democrats aren't out there vowing to contest the outcomes of tomorrow's
races, should there be any evidence of vote suppression or election fraud (as there
will surely be, as there has been a lot of just such evidence already, all of
which
the Dems continue to refuse to see).
Meanwhile, in such vigorous democracies as Scotland and
Germany,
they've taken steps to make elections sound. (Germany's highest court ruled
e-voting unconstituional, as it violates a basic human right.*)
MCM
Electronic voting
system scrapped
(UKPA)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5iX9Ej7XylHsT9 skMtHwEIgQ5giPA?docId=N0111001288118627909A
A controversial
system of electronic ballot counting is to be ditched for next
year's
Holyrood election, it has been confirmed.
Votes will instead be counted by hand following the chaos which followed the 2007 Holyrood election which saw more than 140,000 ballots spoilt.
Scottish Secretary
Michael Moore has also confirmed that the election next year
will also
see a return to two separate ballot papers for the constituency
seats
and regional lists.
Holyrood
election
ballots to be counted by hand
More than
140,000
ballot papers were spoilt in the 2007 election
Ballot papers
for
next May's Scottish elections will be counted by hand, in the
wake of
the 2007 voting fiasco.
The last Holyrood
election, which made use of electronic counting, was hit by
problems
which resulted in more than 140,000 spoilt ballot papers.
There will also be
a
return to two separate ballot papers for the regional list and
constituency contests.
There will be a
bigger gap between the close of nominations and polling day,
allowing
more time for postal voting.
The problems which
besieged counting in 2007 also resulted in the suspension of a
number
of counts across Scotland, and an independent review later
concluded
voters were "treated as an afterthought" in the planning and
organisation of the polls.
Scottish Secretary
Michael Moore, who is in charge of Holyrood elections, said:
"There is no doubt public confidence needs to be repaired after
the problems that were experienced in 2007."
Other changes
include a move to display registered party names first on the
regional
ballot paper, followed by the party description and an option to
use
the preface "Scottish".
In 2007, the SNP
used the phrase "Alex Salmond for first minister" on
regional ballot papers.
An order has now been laid before the UK Parliament to make the changes.
An order has now been laid before the UK Parliament to make the changes.
Electronic
counting
will continue to be used in council elections, the running of
which is
devolved to Scotland.
