9th Circut Reverses Recall Election Decision

[Spicy McHaggis 0]

Punch-card voting has a better success rate than that of two methods allegedly used only by middle- to upper-class whites.

 

I'd like to uh, see some statistics on that one.

Fox News article:

 

According to the California ACLU, punch-card machines, still used in six counties, have an error rate of 2.5 percent, meaning as many as 40,000 votes could be invalidated. In their argument before the court last week, the group argued that because those six counties, which make up 44 percent of the state's voting population, are also 46 percent minority-populated, black and Latino voters will be underrepresented.

 

"There is something logical about saying if several counties use machines with very high error rates and other counties use perfect machines, that is unequal treatment of voters," said Paul Rothstein (search), a professor at Georgetown Law School.

 

But other state voting methods that the ACLU finds acceptable are also prone to error, researchers point out. Optical scanners, for example, have an error rate of 2.3 percent, and could invalidate as many as 36,000 votes in the counties where they are used.

 

Computer touch screens with an error rate of 3 percent could leave 48,000 votes uncounted, and 'Datavote,' a different type of punch-card system used in 20 counties, has an error rate of more than 3 percent — putting as many as 51,200 votes at risk.

 

Punch cards aren't perfect, but according to research at Cal-Tech and MIT, neither is anything else.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Uh-oh.

 

If there's one thing less reliable than punch-card machines and optical scanners it's...

 

it's...

 

it's...

 

it’s...

 

THE FAUX NEWS CHANNEL/.COM LOL 2003!!!

 

Seriously, I loved how Big Media crapped their pants regarding punch-card machines in the 2000 Election, with some publications (Snooze-week for one) comparing those machines to money collectors on vending machines spewing back out your one dollar bill.

 

Of coruse, Snoozeweek’s solution was for election booths to have optical machines, which is funny because I guess nobody from Big Media ever travels to a discount store/grocery and watches in amazement at the stupidity of people in those U-Scan Express aisles.

 

Back in 2000 I used a punch card for the first time, and yes I was a bit taken aback.

 

For about 3 seconds.

 

After making my marks -- and double checking my votes -- I then *gasp* flipped my card over to see if I had any dingleberry chads. I didn't, and my GOP straight ticket (I would have voted for one Dem, but he pissed me off with his pimping in political ads about church attendance) and "No-on-any-proposition-that-involved-more-tax-and-spending" went through without a hitch.

 

Sorry, but I just get my panties in a bunch every time I hear the whining about unfair voting machines and such...