Originally Posted By: Roger
Originally Posted By: wfaulk
You still get the benefits of a simpler UI


I've never quite understood why the "UI" of voting was the source of such problems. Surely it's just a sheet of paper with a list of names, each with a big box next to it? You put a big X in the big box corresponding to the name you like the sound of. Job done.

You can then use Optical Mark Recognition to figure out which big box the big X was put in, and therefore which name most people like the sound of.
Exactly what is done here, San Joaquin County, California. There is a reader in each polling place, the ballot is read and goes directly into an internal hopper. Spoiled ballots are rejected, accounted for, and the voter is given another to mark.

Edit: The ballots themselves are a bit larger than an 8.5x11 inch piece of paper. There is a special envelope that holds the ballot, hiding the marks, ballot and envelope are held to the machine where the ballot is sucked out, maintaining your vote's secrecy.


Edited by gbeer (03/11/2008 18:14)
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Glenn