Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mr. Whist who wrote (92284)	11/28/2000 4:46:43 PM
From: Mr. Whist	Respond to of 769670

Florida's Punchcard Days May Be Over by TERRY SPENCER Associated Press Writer MIAMI (AP) -- By 2004, some Florida voters may cast their ballots by touching a computer screen and others will mark paper ballots counted by computer. In tiny Union County, voters still might do it the old-fashioned way, marking an ''X'' on a paper ballot that will be counted by hand. But one thing seems sure: Punchcard ballots and their chads will have been swept into history. ''With the spectacle of people holding up ballots and the talk about hanging and dimpled chads, punchcards have lost credibility with the voters,'' said Pam Iorio, the Hillsborough County elections supervisor. ''Once a system has become the butt of jokes, it can't be used any more.'' Twenty-five Florida counties use punchcards, blamed for widespread confusion in this year's presidential race. Tens of millions of dollars will be spent statewide to update Florida's voting technology. ''We just need to find out if Congress is going to chip in,'' said state Rep. Bill Andrews, a Republican from Delray Beach. Two systems are being adopted nationwide that supporters say are much more reliable than punchcards -- one uses paper ballots that a computer counts, while the other puts a computer in each voting booth. Under the paper ballot, or ''marksense'' system, which is already used by 41 Florida counties, voters use a pencil to fill in a bubble next to their choice. The votes are counted by a computer scanner. Larry Ensminger, a vice president of Texas-based Global Elections System Inc., said the system is quick, accurate, simple to use and produces an easy-to-read ballot if a manual recount is required. ''You don't have any dimpled or hanging chad,'' he said. The scanners cost about $6,000 each -- many counties buy only one per polling place -- but last for years. Iorio said she doesn't like the marksense system because, like punchcards, it doesn't count votes that aren't properly marked. She also thinks it will be out-of-date soon. ''If I'm going to ask my county commission for $10 million, I want a system that will still be modern in 30 years,'' she said. The ''direct recording electronic'' system is used in hundreds of counties across the country, but none in Florida. It places a computer in each booth, with buttons next to each candidate's name or screens that voters can touch to make their choices. Votes are recorded within the computer as a backup, and some print a paper ballot that's put in a ballot box in case of a system failure. Each computer costs between $3,000 and $6,000 and one is needed for every 400 to 500 voters. ''We have had very few complaints,'' said Howard Sholl, an election official in Delaware, which adopted computerized voting several years ago. Even though the state's Republican gubernatorial primary last September was decided by only 40 votes, Sholl said the losing candidate didn't ask for a recount of the computer tally, only the absentee ballots, which are paper. ''There was confidence in the vote,'' Sholl said.

To: Mr. Whist who wrote (92284)	11/28/2000 4:51:30 PM
From: RON BL	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Flap your choosing not to hear me. What I am trying to tell you my friend is that the conservatives are through letting the liberals have their way with this country. I know what the liberals are up to . They are always up to it. On every campus there are long-haired relics teaching the joys of communism and other such intellectual feats. Radical feminists discuss the joys of toys and declare men obsolete. Left wing radicals prepare text books aimed at school children to discuss fisting and other wonderful topics. In SanFRancisco a photograph of a naked man was handed out to 6 th graders. The caption was dont be afraid he just wants to be your friend. Yes the liberals are active but now there will be another voice.