There's so must consternation over flaws in our election process, particularly after the irregularities that occurred during the elections of 2000 and 2004. Wouldn't it be nice if we could devise an election process with:
- No last-minute registration problems.
- No confusing instructions like the butterfly ballot.
- No hanging chads or other ambiguities.
- No undervotes or overvotes.
- No long-lines to vote.
- No computer counts using hackable software.
Here's a fairly radical approach for changing our election process.
Create 'vote tokens' of different colors, shapes, and thicknesses for each race. In a given precinct, voters may have several different types of tokens. For example, the presidential race may have a blue triangle, a Senate race a red square, and so on. Tokens would not have any information on them so, unlike paper ballots, they could be reused many times. Microchips could be implanted in the tokens to deter counterfeiting.
All registered voters are mailed their 'vote tokens' one month before the election. Anyone who does not receive their 'vote tokens' would have a month to resolve the problem with their local elections office. There will always be some registration problems, but at least they wouldn't surface on Election Day and slow down the voting process. Furthermore, the need for election officials would be reduced as there would be no on-site checking.
Voting for each race would take place in separate booths. The voting both for a race would be painted the same color as the token. Polling places could be designed to move people rapidly through the process. For example, voting could be conducted in 'open-air' areas for those who did not care about the secrecy of their vote. Drive-thru voting could be set up for us really lazy Americans. Mobile polling stations could be developed to accommodate special populations like retirement communities and schools, or relocate to alleviate delays at locations with heavy voter turnout.
The actual voting booth would have names and pictures of the candidates. Because there is only one 'ballot' per race, it could be made large with plenty of information (no butterfly ballots). Below each candidate would be an opening specifically for the appropriate shape of token (i.e., no square-pegs-in-round-holes prevents tokens from being used in the wrong election). Voters would put their token in the opening below the picture of the candidate they favor. Having a single 'ballot' would allow greater consistency between precincts having the same races. For example, a Presidential race could have the same ballot in all States (or at least similar ballots, depending on which candidates are qualified to be on a State's roster).
Tokens placed in the opening for a candidate would fall into a separate sealed container. Each candidate would have a separate container. Votes for different candidates would never be mixed. Thus, there would be no ambiguity during the counting (no undervotes, no overvotes, no ambiguous hanging chads). All the tokens in a certain container would be counted for that candidate.
Election Day would be replaced by Election Week. Any registered voter in a state could go to any polling place in the state and place their tokens in the opening for their candidate. The presumption would be that, if you were legally registered so that you received your tokens, you could vote. No provisional ballots. Information could be provided (by telephone recorded messages, internet web sites, news media) on locations of 'voter-traffic-jams' and where to go to avoid them.
Counting could be manual (by election officials, perhaps aided by standard containers like token wrappers, and observed by party representatives) and/or by machines (like Coinstar or other mechanical coin-counting devices). Polling places could count vote tokens nightly to facilitate compiling results. There would be no need for paper receipts because votes for different candidates would never be mixed. There would also be no software code that could be hacked or otherwise illegally manipulated.
Of course with any new system, there would be new problems. For example:
- Registration rolls -- Many precincts update their voter registration using signatures obtained on election day. Since there would be no such checking during election week, this approach would no longer be possible. Instead, elections offices could conduct annual (or even less frequent) mail polls to verify voter information.
- Theft or sale of 'vote tokens' -- Illegal exchange of vote tokens might be a problem. Even so, it would be a burdensome way to steal an election and difficult to conceal from authorities.
- Absentee Ballots -- If a token system were adopted nationally, registered voters could vote in national races anywhere. This would not be true, however, of local races, so there would still have to be some paper absentee ballots.
This proposed election process would be a radical change from the current process, but it might have many benefits. Add your thoughts on why you think the process wouldn't work or how it could be improved. Maybe something will come of it.