In re voting system "glitches"

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Rich Kulawiec <rsk () GSP ORG>
Date: October 31, 2008 6:14:14 PM EDT
To: USACM-INFO () LISTSERV ACM ORG
Subject: In re voting system "glitches"
Reply-To: Rich Kulawiec <rsk () GSP ORG>

I've noticed already -- this US election cycle -- the frequent use of  
the
word "glitch" in press accounts of electronic voting system  
malfunctions.

But these are NOT "glitches".  These are failures of core system
functionality.  The systems are failing to do the very thing they were
supposedly designed to do.

And it's not just failure for the person who's vote wasn't counted
properly, it's a failure for all of us.  (I trust that *everyone*,
whoever/whatever they support, doesn't want that candidate or ballot  
issue
to prevail because someone else's vote wasn't counted: they want their
side to win because everyone's vote WAS counted and their candidate/ 
issue
came out ahead.  I also trust that it's clear to everyone that if things
don't work out this way, that representative democracy is broken.)

We need to stop labeling voting system failures as "glitches".  A  
"glitch"
is when a word processor puts a paragraph break in the wrong place,
or billing system is off by a nickel on every $5000 invoice, or a
web server is missing the URL for every 101st JPG.

Miscounting a vote is a failure.

---Rsk





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