Building the People’s Voting System

Tag: complexity

At the Risk of Running off the Rails

So, we have a phrase we like to use around here borrowed from the legal academic world.  Used to describe an action or conduct in analyzing a nuance in tort negligence, is the phrase “frolic and detour.”  I am taking a bit of detour and frolicking in an increasingly noisy element of explaining the complexity … Continued

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NY Times: Hanging Chad in New York?

NYT reported on the continuing counting in some New York elections, with the control of the NY state house (and hence redistricting) hanging in the balance. The article is mostly apt, but the reference to “hanging chad” is not quite right. FL 2000’s hanging chad drama was mainly about the ridiculous extreme that FL went … Continued

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Bruce Schneier on “Worst Case Thinking”

Although he was talking in a very different context, I still think that Bruce Schneier’s perspectives on worst-case thinking have relevance to us: “Worst-case thinking means generally bad decision making for several reasons. First, it’s only half of the cost-benefit equation. Every decision has costs and benefits, risks and rewards. By speculating about what can … Continued

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How to Get Ready to Make Ballots

We’ve been spending a good chunk of our time lately on generating ballots, and on the steps leading up to ballot generation. You might think that the lead-up would be simple — making lists of contests and candidates — but actually there is lots more to it. In fact, it’s been much more time consuming … Continued

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Votes Lost & Found in Myrtle Beach

Election officials in Myrtle Beach, SC, noted the absence of about 260 votes in the recent election there. Fortunately, the votes were found, and the reason for the error discovered — and both before the election was certified. It’s a good thing that Myrtle Beach election officials were making their lists and checking them twice, … Continued

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Arkansas E-Vote Flipping: Force 9 Gale?

It seems like e-voting snafus are like weather: there’s
always a bit of a storm somewhere, and now and then you get a big one. Although
we can thank our lucky stars that we haven’t had a real hurricane, an
electronic equivalent of Florida in 2000, the recent
Arkansas vote-flipping
snafu might qualify as a force 9 gale.

And because this time it is clear the outcome of the race
was also flipped, this case of Arkansas State House District 45 in 2008 might

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