Take two thick slices of Noonie's day old bread, smear Honey Cup honey mustard
liberally over both. Cover both slices with green leaf lettuce. Then on one slice only lay smoked turkey on the lettuce,
a tomato slice on the turkey and sprinkle it with shredded carrot. Then on the lay a slice of provolone cheese over the
carrot then a green pepper ring on top of the cheese. Sprikle with sprouts. Cover with the other slice, lettuce side down.
The letuce should be stuck to the bread with honey mustard so it doesn't fall off when you turn it upside down to cover the
sandwich. Slice sandwich in half with a knife. Wrap in tightly in plastic wrap. Use too much wrap. Tape on label. Tadaaa!
Weighs one pound. Costs Four Bucks.
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your
teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed,
to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects,
against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and
no warrants shall issue,
but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place
to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Ethan Allen Tower
"During the 1992 campaign, Bill Clinton
sometimes spoke of a 'twofer' (two for the price of one) presidency,
implying that Hillary would play an important role in his
administration."
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Duis ligula lorem,
consequat eget, tristique nec, auctor quis, purus. Vivamus ut sem. Fusce aliquam nunc vitae purus.
Whatever things
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Duis ligula lorem,
consequat eget, tristique nec, auctor quis, purus. Vivamus ut sem. Fusce aliquam nunc vitae purus.
Paper Ballot! Paper Trail!
Monday, July 09, 2007
Re-run from 02.08.07 ******
You know...It isn't as if it hadn't occurred to me to write Deb Markowitz about "Paper Ballot! Paper Trail!" before. I've hesitated to do that because I was afraid of what her answer might be.
Anyway, I finally did write to her yesterday. Her response was helpful and somewhat reassuring, but not entirely satisfying. She said it was already written in Vermont Law which she gave me:
CHAPTER 51. CONDUCT OF ELECTIONS Subchapter II. Ballots § 2478. Number of paper ballots to be printed and furnished (a) For primary elections, the secretary of state shall furnish each town with a sufficient number of printed ballots based on the history of voter turnout in the town and in consultation with the town clerk. (b) For general elections, the secretary of state shall furnish each town with a number of printed ballots approximately equal to 100 percent of the number of voters on the checklist for the primary election. (c) If necessary due to unusual growth of the checklist, a town clerk may request additional ballots from the secretary of state at least 40 days before the election. (d) For local ballots, the town clerk shall cause such number of ballots to be printed and furnished as the board of civil authority shall designate. (e)No voting shall occur in any general election which does not use printed ballots. (Added 1977, No. 269 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1979, No. 200 (Adj. Sess.), § 48; 1981, No. 239 (Adj. Sess.), § 15; amended 1985, No. 109 (Adj. Sess.); 1991, No. 127 (Adj. Sess.); 2003, No. 94 (Adj. Sess.), § [emphasis added]
That's great! Thank You to the state reps, senators and governor who made that happen- whoever the hell you happen to be! I love you.
The thing is Deborah Markowitz, I believe, is a genuinely nice person. I think because of this she tried to take an extra step to reassure me, that unfortunately had the opposite effect. She said even if we put the paper trail issue aside, she didn't believe electronic voting would make sense in Vermont because the "efficiencies" that make it "attractive" in other states are not "relevant" here because they are too expensive.
Um...ah, yeah...(I'm doing Bill Lumbergh ) See, the thing is- it doesn't matter how efficient it is or how attractive that efficiency may make it for an elections officer- paperless voting is worthless. It cannot be audited and that is a fact. Look it up- or better yet, just use your common sense. When you use a touch screen and the program inside the machine records the vote falsely, the voter does not know. Nobody knows, except perhaps the hacker responsible for the flipped vote. How can you recount that? What are you counting? Ether? Finger Prints? That vote is in there baby, and that race is over. Look at Florida-13 for crying out loud! Touch screen machines produced an election with 18,000 undervotes under highly dubious conditions. That baby is still in court and Florida is returning to paper. Hallelluya!
And get it straight. A "paper trail" is meaningless unless it consists of a "paper ballot" The vote must be recorded on something physical, AKA, real, AKA paper- and it must be verified by the voter before it cast. It is true that a touch screen voting machine will produce a printed receipt, but as they say "garbage in, garbage out." If a bug or glitch flipped a vote, that receipt would just mimic the flipped vote. It doesn't tell us squat about the intent of the voter. Nobody can verify a vote if no physical record of it exists.
So although I'm glad the Secretary of State has at least some reason to oppose the scourge of e-voting, I'd prefer it if her primary reason for opposing electronic voting had more to do with the bedrock principle of sound, verifiable elections- and less to do with some false ideas about cost and efficiency. If an election is meaningless it isn't efficient and it's a total waste of money. Not only that- it cuts at the heart of democracy.
In any event, Deb was very gracious to respond to my email so quickly and provide me with the text of the Vermont Paper Ballot Law. I like her. She didn't get more votes than Jim Douglas or Bernie Sanders for nothing.
No. It isn't all semantics. Law is fluid. I'd feel better were "Paper Ballot! Paper Trail!" imbedded in the VT and US Constitutions and the UN Charter for that matter, but it isn't. All we have is one little regular law.
This is not a joke. This is urgent. As recently as last November, the congressional election in Florida's thirteenth district was stolen using paperless touch-screen "voting" devices. There is no recourse or possible way to audit the results. The result stood and the district will vote on paper next time. Paper.
I do not want my secretary of state contemplating any perceived "efficiencies" vis-a-vis paperless "voting." That's like considering the aesthetic improvement from rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.
It is impossible to audit (truly audit) elections held using touch-screen or paperless devices. If it can't be audited, it can't be trusted. If it can't be trusted, the people can't have confidence and democracy is destroyed.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble,
and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Click Sticker to get one.
Yours free with Paypal donation of any amount.
Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars,
the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury,
shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States,
than according to the rules of the common law.
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your
teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed,
to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
-Emma Lazarus, 1883
--------------------------
Church Street Energy System
--------------------------
Powered by
"The Medium is the Message."
Whatever things
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Duis ligula lorem,
consequat eget, tristique nec, auctor quis, purus. Vivamus ut sem. Fusce aliquam nunc vitae purus.
Whatever things
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Duis ligula lorem,
consequat eget, tristique nec, auctor quis, purus. Vivamus ut sem. Fusce aliquam nunc vitae purus.
Junktique's New Site
Junktique's Old Site
Jessica Sklar
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyNJbNbmUUkmfGLaBuqicz0Zvqt-1zb2AzXdfm1qMXh8AfpmG9leXo0dm_wo-26BNSQz0sc5nzPl7NU4PdQjb1wqbgKf1-A7vG2K8EsV40igIcBQahcPJFPCUfHFy3aSWN2yi8qg/s1600/henry%2527s.jpg")
It's all semantics, isn't it? I mean, Vermont law requires a paper ballot.
So what are you worried about?