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Do you agree or disagree with Snyder’s argument that paper ballots are needed for elections? Explain why, and what needs to be done to achieve this. Respond to the famous saying, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” What do you think your role is in this?
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We are a society that thrives on instant gratification. We want it all right now. That makes electronic ballots much more appealing in this day and age. We get the results faster and require less people to achieve that goal. Right now there are only a few states that use Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). There is risk of these machines being cyber attacked. There are many people who are not technologically knowledgeable enough to deal with the computerized age. This will prohibit a certain portion of citizens their right to vote. I fear that the rapid, always evolving AI technology will take voting results totally out of the hands of humans making it more easily manipulated. And, what if – what if someone happens to hit the delete button. All those votes gone.
Yes, paper ballots are more of a nuisance. They require more time to tally, more people to do the tallying, and of course there is the chance of human error. BUT, there is a paper trail with paper ballots providing the country with a way to verify the results. Sometimes, we need to slow down, take our time, and do it right. I can’t imagine a more important reason to do that than when executing our sacred right to vote. So I do agree with Snyder’s argument that paper ballots are needed.
One way to secure our liberty is to protect our elections. To be patient, guard our tradition of voting with paper ballots, and produce that paper trail should questions arise. We need to guard those ballots as if they belonged in Fort Knox. We need to fight against gerrymandering and the creation of registration requirements that prohibit millions of people from registering to vote. The SAVE Act must not be allowed to pass through Congress as it is now written. We need to be vigilant about what is happening to our mail service so that the mail in vote does not become jeopardized.
My job is to VOTE. My job is to be mindful of what legislature is being introduced that might hamper or deny voters their rights. My job is to not let apathy win when I feel tired and overwhelmed. My job is to keep watching and keep speaking in whatever way I can. My job is to protect our First Amendment rights. Once a government takes my voice they will never give it back.
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I agree with you Libby. There is a big risk with EVMs being hacked. Laws and checks have never been able to keep up with the pace of technological advances, but with EVMs the consequences of tech issues are too dangerous. Paper ballots are needed. But also needed is reform in the system to eliminate gerrymandering, voter suppression and even the electoral college. One vote should have equal weight for each person across the country. How this can be done when so much is being destroyed and will need to be rebuilt is a very good question; I think it is all up to the courts now.
Complacency when life seems fine is normal, but corrupt individuals never stop scheming and working towards bettering themselves at the cost of others. That is why eternal vigilance is required to maintain the quality of life we’ve become accustomed to. It is our constant job to prevent our freedoms from being taken away.
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Thank goodness we have a paper balloting process in Canada, and let’s keep it that way! Digital machines have so many other ways they can be tampered with that don’t involve cybercrime too. I noted in the last US election, power to some of the voting areas went off, delaying the ability to even cast a vote. Delays like that mean people might not bother to even turn out to vote! I’m not saying the electricity was shut off on purpose, but such types of sabotage can be imagined. Having humans have paper ballots that they can count and recount is far more secure than other means. Sometimes being a Luddite is a good thing.
I also think Western democracies also have to be more alert about vote buying. There are some very sophisticated tactics that have been used to “stuff ballots” and sway outcomes in some countries where bribes and payments are given to susceptible groups in exchange for their votes. I’d say Musk’s $1 million US voter giveaway was teetering towards this. As for eternal vigilance, I think it’s important to support initiatives that strengthen voter rights (like stopping gerrymandering in the US) and help friends and family know about initiatives that threaten their votes and also help their votes.
In Canada, there’s been decades-long discussions of implementing proportional representation (essentially, the percentage of seats a party has in the legislature should reflect the percentage of people who voted for that party). I think if it were to ever come into being, it would help strengthen smaller parties, possibly see new parties be created, and we would not have such a heavy tilt towards a two-party system. I hope that if this comes up again, there will be more widespread programs to educate the population about it and the pros and cons of changing the system.
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Complacency and silence enable others to take control of situations, communities and societies. When we refuse to participate in shaping the world around us, the world will be shaped by those who have the most conviction. All too often, emotions drive behaviour, with greed, fear and hate being some of the most powerful and motivational emotions.
When the majority of citizens in a society are either fairly content or too busy just trying to survive, citizens may tend to ignore or forgot about being vigilant in defending democracy. Without vigilance from the great majority of rational citizens, emotional voices become louder and more powerful. It is in the interest of these voices that advocate greed, hate and fear to spread these emotions to others, to normalize these feelings, which further empowers themselves. This is how tyranny can happen in democracies with citizens who either aren’t paying attention, or don’t believe that it can happen in their countries.
I believe that we all must take some responsibility in learning about what’s happening in the world around us and participate in shaping our world. Too often, we’re too busy or just not interested. Too many of us can’t find the time to read and understand how our communities are being shaped, too many of us can’t be bothered to vote. At the very least, it would do us well to educate ourselves and make informed decisions. If possible, we can advocate and encourage neighbours to learn and participate as well.
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I am sure there are ways to manipulate paper ballots; I don’t think that any voting method is 100% foolproof if there’s a desire for dishonesty, and anything handled by humans is going to be prone to human error; so it boils down to which method is the least prone to tampering. In which case, there’s a lot to be said for paper ballots, and many experts do find them to be the preferable method. There are too many smart hackers out there in the world who can seamlessly manipulate these things and leave little or no trace, whereas a paper method does literally have that paper trail to follow. It requires, however, sufficient manpower and scrupulous people to get the job done, and that may sometimes be a challenge. That said, it may well be that the best method these days is to take that step backwards, away from the technology, and find good people to get the job done. There may still be errors and manipulation in some cases, but I think it would be less likely this way to be coming from halfway around the world, at least.
I do believe in that saying. It’s a mistake to become too complacent about democracy. Most nations had to fight to get it, and it’s careless to forget that fact. There are always going to be people in the world who want to own it all, and not be opposed by anything or anyone. Given sufficient power and opportunity, they will arise, time and time again. As much as I’d like to throw up my hands and turn away from it all, I think it’s my duty to force myself to stay aware and stay involved, and encourage others to do likewise.
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Even though it seems to feed the narrative that the 2020 U.S. election was stolen, I am on board with the idea of paper ballots. That is what we use in NM. They look like the standardized tests of my past but they are noted as cast before you walk out of the voting center and tallied quickly. And, they remain available for any required recount.
Snyder’s comments after his advice about requiring paper ballots were more important to me; preventing gerrymandering and removing the notion that campaign donations are protected speech. More than how votes are cast or counted, those are the factors that effectively prevent the one person-one vote standard from applying in the U.S.
In addition to voting in every election, federal, state, city, county, school board, the water utility authority and the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo and Flood Control Authority (so they know folks are paying attention), I support the folks who are defending our voting rights.
Sadly, Wendell Phillips was correct.
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This is my explanation to my neighbors about why they need to engage on issues with the city of ABQ.
SILENCE=ACQUIESENCE
ABSENCE=DISINTEREST
Political leadership in ABQ responds when they know people are watching.
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