General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWas the return of the paper ballot in VA a factor in Tuesday's election or its results?
Calling all experts! Did the paper ballots make a difference?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/paper-ballots-make-a-comeback-in-virginia-this-fall/2017/10/07/724106ec-a92b-11e7-850e-2bdd1236be5d_story.html?utm_term=.966ba85bbd48
https://wtop.com/virginia/2017/09/voting-like-1999-va-jurisdictions-back-ballots-paper/
http://wavy.com/2017/11/07/paper-ballots-make-a-return-across-virginia/
samnsara
(17,572 posts)TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)for years now and they have worked just fine.
lapucelle
(18,040 posts)It's nice to have the paper trail...
but I do miss the old school booths with the levers and the curtains.
We are so privileged in NY to have polls that are open for 15 hours.
kentuck
(110,950 posts)Democrats across the nation should demand paper ballots, imo.
delisen
(6,039 posts)no-paper trail voting machines and has resisted replacement for years.
I think there is massive disgust with Trump and Republicans around. the country but would like to get a better idea whether, Republican victories prior to 2017 were partly based on voter machine fraud.
former9thward
(31,806 posts)The people using the type of voting procedures as an excuse for losing -- are doing just that -- trying to find an excuse. There has been no evidence of fraud due to a lack of paper. The only people who put forward that theory will give CT sites as their "evidence". Why do you think the Democratic party, either national or state or any of our candidates, do not endorse these theories? Do you think they are part of a conspiracy to lose elections? I don't.
The reason Democrats won in Virginia was turnout. The Republican candidate for governor received MORE votes than ANY Virginia Republican governor's candidate in the state's history. The reason the Democrat won was because Democrats turned out even more, not paper ballots. Also it helped that the Democratic candidate was a moderate. In fact he stated he voted for Bush both times.
spooky3
(34,303 posts)Part of the objection to the electronic machines no longer used in VA is that they were unveriable and without an audit trail; by definition, proving fraud is difficult or impossible with them.
unc70
(6,095 posts)You and the CT people are roughly in the same boat. There is no way to prove one way or the other if vote hacking happened in VA or elsewhere. The system used for over 15 years in northern Virginia was probably the worst voting technology of all time. No paper trail was only the beginning. It had multiple known problems just tabulating the votes. But worse, it required WiFi to operate, using clear text, and hardwired passwords such as ABCDE, and remote modification of vote totals without any audit trails.
So with barely any knowledge, you or I need only get within WiFi range, use our smartphone to logon as admin, and edit the totals on the screen to anything we want. No audit trail, no indication we had ever been on the machines. There were similar problems with the central tabulating parts of the system.
Even with all the many known problems, VA continued to certify these systems for another ten years. Did anyone ever hijack these systems? No one knows.
I think that it is easier to steal elections by screwing with the voter roles, either by aggressive purging or by direct hacking. Being denied a ballot on a technicality or forced to use a provisional ballot that is where elections are likely stolen.
As for CT sites, I recommend places like the Brennan Center.
SandyZ
(186 posts)lapucelle
(18,040 posts)is a huffy, somewhat accusatory, and absolutely unequivocal "no".
When I posted the question, it was indeed meant as a question. That's why I asked people who might have informed opinions to weigh in. I anticipated answers to the actual question more so than invective about the apocryphal promotion of conspiracy theories.
Voter education and voter turnout are always key. (That's how we managed to turn our red county blue this week.) I worked hard to GOTV both this year and last, as I have for the past 40+ years. We had our celebration, and our small party-sponsored Democratic Woman's Caucus will have its regular meeting this month to start preparing for upcoming primary, ballot initiative, and school tax elections.
Moreover, because some here have raised questions about the counting of the vote in VA and about the practices of some officials who are charged with that duty, I thought it was an interesting question. Mea culpa.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=9822821