[conspire] Stolen election narratives, CA edition

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Paul Zander (paulz at ieee.org):

>  Secret ballots:
> The only secret ballot is in a booth with no cameras permitted.

Obviously true.  

I realise you didn't say this was a desired objective, but: 
If one _were_ to propose this, would it be practical, and would 
it fly with the voters?  That means:

1.  No more absentee voting.
2.  No more vote-by-mail.
3.  No more military voting.
4.  No more overseas voting.
5.  Nobody may ever accompany a voter, even a handicapped one, into the
    voting booth.
6.  TSA-grade-or-better security checks must be satisfied before entering 
    the voting booth, to verify that you're carrying nothing with you that
    can record what you're doing in the booth.  (Given creativity, this
    might not be limited to cameras, and one might end up with a new
    tradition of naked voting.  Hubba hubba.  Or "Ugh, shield my eyes",
    as the case may be.)
7.  Voters must be convinced to approve and pay for all of the above.

There are things we as a society choose not to do, not because they
wouldn't be in some sense beneficial, but because the cost/benefit 
tradeoff isn't compelling.  I think "voting must be only by an
unaccompanied citizen in a voting booth with a verified absence of
cameras" is a case in point.


> Actually in a booth is not totally fool proof.  It depends on how well
> you can bluff the neighborhood enforcer when he asks how you voted.

Yes, I suppose good liars have an advantage at cheating Tammany Hall of
its (adjusted for inflation) $50.


> In a state-wide election with a significant margin in the count, it
> would be hard to force enough votes without being caught.  However, in
> recent years, there have been several elections decide by a very few
> votes...

Yes, those are of course the ones where everyone goes to court and/or
demands/pays for recounts and audits.  And that is where we find --
shocker! -- that no ballot system is perfect.