Yesterday, I was out at the Fairfax County Government Center dealing with a minor issue (why the hell do make you travel to the westernmost edge of the county?) and noticed a sign about absentee voting.
So, after paying my personal property tax and getting my vehicle decal (those of you who don't have to do this are so lucky - even with the "tax relief" we got that killed potential transportation improvements revenue, it's still a bite), I hopped upstairs to the elections office.
I told the woman I might be out of town on November 8th and could I have an absentee ballot. She handed me a request form and told me that I could vote while I was there. So, I filled it out and walked into an adjacent room to find...
ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES!!!
more after the flip-flop...
The whole point of my wanting to vote via absentee ballot, was to make sure my vote was counted. Republicans in Florida and Ohio were encouraged to do so in last year's election, presumably to make sure THEIR votes counted.
Given all that has been discovered about the irregularities in Ohio, attributed to paperless voting systems made by Republican-owned companies and purchased by Republican voting commissioners, and additional evidence of how easy they are to hack without a trace (see BlackboxVoting.org) I have been concerned, needless to say.
Well the machine that I voted on is by Advanced Voting Systems and is their WinVote model:
Here's what the company's selling points on the machine are:
WINvoteTM Wireless Functionality Improves Efficiency, Reduces Costs
Touch-screen voting has become the technology of choice by election administrators. However, not all systems are alike; in fact they vary greatly.
The WINvoteTM system possesses features and functionality that will potentially revolutionize the Election Equipment and Solutions Industry.
The functionality linchpin of the WINvoteTM system is its wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11b) system - called the Wireless Information Network (WIN) -- that enables the user to communicate remotely with the major components of the voting system.
Two examples are: (a.) WINstage, a exclusive warehouse management system that is being hailed as the most beneficial cost-reduction tool available in the industry, and (b.) WINmanager, an equally exclusive precinct management system designed to make polling places more efficient and reduce procedural anomalies.
Winning with WINvote
The WINvoteTM system is expected to become the next industry standard by which all voting systems are measured for the following reasons: (a.) it offers productivity tools to aid in substantial cost reductions never before available to election administrators, (b.) it simplifies procedures throughout the entire process, and (c.) it embodies technology that election processes and procedures that are sure to evolve over time.
What the Fuck?!?!?
Wireless connectivity is a GOOD THING? And not one selling point about accuracy and security of the system!
Now I wish I hadn't cast my votes that way and had said, "I'd love to do it right now, but I'm late for work, now, as it is."
I did pick up a request form for my wife, though. Since the election is coming up really soon, it was suggested that my wife fax the form in, because they'd still have to mail the ballot and she'd have to mail it back in.
For my precinct there were only 5 votes to cast: Governor (Tim Kaine, natch), Lt. Gov. (Leslie Byrne, of course), the Attorney General and our local delegate (both Democrats picked, ya know). The 5th item was a referendum on funding education.
I hope my vote gets counted...