After the election I posted a diary about ballot initiatives to get a national standard for voting. Congress will never take up this cause because this system benefits the republicans and they are in charge.
I am proposing simultaneous ballot initiatives in all 50 states in November 2005 that would get us clean elections in 2006. Below the fold are my ideas of what this initiative should accomplish.
- No paperless voting machines
- All machines must use open source coding.
- No central vote tabulation. All tabulations must be by machine and all machines numbered. The results per machine will be faxed to a central vote tabulation area. This will alleviate the prospect of hacking. A fax can not be hacked.
- One machine per 200 registered voters in each precinct. This will alleviate the long lines in cities and make the wait time even for all areas including the rich republican suburbs.
- Same day registration will be allowed with proper identification.
- A statewide office only provisional ballot must be provided for all people in the wrong precinct. A regular provisional ballot for all in the correct precinct but not on the voter rolls.
- Automatic 10% hand recount of all machines
- All state offices will be closed election day and state workers trained to work the polls.
- All employers must allow 2 hours off to vote with pay. This will make more people come out and vote.
This is all just off the top of my head. I am hoping someone will recommend this diary and I can get more ideas from the kos community. I will compile a list of what is needed in each state to get this on the ballot. Does anyone know if e-signatures are good for this type of ballot initiative? I think with some grassroots effort we can get this on the ballot in all 50 states in 2005 and have it in place for 2006.