Translation Loop Elelection System
Translation Loop Voting System Proposal The basic mechanism of democracy is the election. Voting is key to the citizen being able to have direct influence, for checks and balance government and it’s authority, policy, and social programs. The voter should be able to verify and confirm their vote was cast and counted correctly is critical to voter trust and believable results of any election. This is true no matter how complicated the logistics are. Empowering the voter is how a stronger democracy is built. Empower the government and leaders without obligation to the people builds despotic governments and leaders. When the voter believes their vote isn’t counted, apathy and disenfranchisement from the democratic process exists. Fewer people vote and today elections are seen as corporate or plutocratic appointments because federally and state certified corporate made election systems maintained by corporations before, during, and after elections control the elections, while other corporations “count” the votes. There is NO accountability by the voter or people of their election or government. Checking your vote is not a right any American has ever had, but in the light and spirit of the Constitution and Bill of Rights focused on protecting freedom of expression, exchange of ideas, and to believe what you want; you would think expressing your desire to vote for an issue or candidate and the counting of permanent record paper ballots is a right and the most important responsibility of a democratic government guarded right of people in a democracy. The Constitution should be amended to give people the right to vote and have their vote counted and verify that it was counted correctly by their direct witness and participation in the process of counting the ballots. That not being our goal, but a hope for future generations, today we can work toward improving elections. There is not one person alive who has ever voted, who can actually claim they voted and checked their vote against the totals used that determined the election. That simple act would confirm that our vote was cast correctly and counted correctly, but we have no option or ability to do so. Have we given up the right to personally check how our elections are conducted and verify my own vote, or have we not examined means and consequences of open and transparent voting and counting the votes elections? We need to do this without software or computers because they are so easily corrupted. Having computers perform some tasks like printing ballots for voters, who check them is fine. Counting ballots is a recipe for election fraud if the ballots are NOT counted by hand to check the computer or software count. Voting via translation loop Voter Verified and Certified Elections checks the state, federal government or their contractor’s election system computer counts. If elections are to be based on voter verification, then elections must first plan how voters can be anonymous and have direct feedback to the election system. This system is of great advantage to special interests who want to control the results of elections and a huge disadvantage to the individual voter. Alternately to that is open voting. Open voting was used before the Civil War. This system must have robust criminal law legislation that pursues and convicts vote selling, buying, intimidation, or harassment. No voter should make their vote the business of any other entity, employer, or person. No entity, corporation, employer, or authority in any capacity should be involved or have influence in any over the voter using the voter’s vote. These acts need to be regulated and punished when found with severe fines and penalties for each occurrence, such as sexual discrimination legislation. Any election found to have such irregularities needs to be assessed on the basis of influence and a new election held if the ballots in question reach point five percent (.5%) of the total ballots cast. There should be no corruption of the electoral process tolerated. Point five one percent (.51%) of 100,000 people is 510 votes. Who would declare we should NOT count 510 people’s votes? Principle being one woman or man, one vote, so count every vote. Translation loop elections must be based on the voters certifying the election after they vote. Make democracy the people’s business, not a corporate run business, as it is today. Starting with a data base of random numbers generated in D.C. for national elections, or a data base of random numbers generated in each state capital for state elections, each voter would receive a non-associated with the voter, but one trackable random number. The (Federal or State) election agency will produce random numbers for the quantity of registered or likely to register voters, for each state with the initials of each state on federally issued numbers (State elections could put county name initials) by the random number. Each state or the federal government would issue it's appropriate quantity of random numbers that also have bar codes. These numbers could be on a tape or a small sheet, that has an adhesive back on part of it, that could be handed out one to a voter, after the voter’s registration check is complete. Each individual voter’s number has one adhesive backed number and bar code and one number and bar code printed on the business size card to keep. Each voter then enters the booth, scans the number into the voting machine and reads the number on the screen to verify they are the same, then votes and receives an audit able paper ballot. The voter could use an Automark to print their ballot or mark it by hand. Then the voter then places the sticky side of the bar code sticker onto the ballot and checks their vote for accuracy and scans the ballot into the election data base themselves. To check the vote/ballot before leaving the poll, each voter goes to another machine in another room (partitioned off in the same room) and scans the ballot. After scanning the ballot the screen shows their votes cast and random number. If the system has recorded their vote correctly or if there is a problem and the voter would have to cancel their first vote and vote again. This process would be the first step in a Translation Loop Election. The second step to complete the Translation Loop Election verification that would occur when the election is over and the results are published in a small multiple precincts or county (for small county’s) publication, on recyclable paper, available in libraries and post offices, or the news paper could issue a special edition for county by county. You could also access it online, or request a CD form. You look up your number and find your vote on the list of all votes counted that determined the election. You verify it was cast and counted correctly or save the page with your vote with your voter random number card as evidence of a corrupted count. To confirm the vote was correct, there are at least two levels of action. One, you scan your ballot into the data base and then scan it again before you leave the poll. Two, you return to the poll with your ballot and after reprocessing your registration you scan you ballot again and certify the vote was counted correctly or corrupted by voting certified or corrupt. Then another final result of all the votes marked confirmed or corrupted is published. This process would provide overwhelming evidence that EVERY VOTE COUNTS and was COUNTED or tells every voter who cares to know how many voters thought their vote was corrupted. With internet totals or CD’s you could total the entire state’s certified and corrupted votes on your home computer. Be part of your democracy, not just a passive observer and keeper of the trust in trust U.S. elections. Each voter would certify each vote or it would have to be marked unused and clearly NOT counted if a voter did not certify that vote that was published. The first confirmation level of ALL voters verifying their vote was accurate or corrupted would be a first level canvassing. If over votes by the machine did not get certified by the actual voter then those votes would not be counted from the list of Voter Certified Ballots of the vote totals used to Certify the Election. I think we should get tax credit of $100 (checks for people who do not pay taxes, and why not legislate penalties for people who did not vote by making them pay a $200 fine) from the state as an incentive for making this a democracy, especially for calling attention to evidence of actual voting irregularities ($200 for evidence of each corrupted vote). Democracy must be based on accurate elections or it is a not a democracy. Legislating incentives to work for democracy and encouraging people to participate and take back our government from corporations means responsibility and participation for voters to make government open, transparent, and accountable. Despotic governments only can work without participation or accountability as we see in the U.S. today. We are going to have to work at elections if they are going to be accountable, transparent, and open, or they will just continue to be media and political theater hype, while corporations tell us who won. We have to move toward democracy and empowerment of the voter over the Katharine Harris types and the Supreme Court coup that exercises arbitrary power for special interests in Florida, 2000 and as Secretary of State K. Blackwell did in Ohio, 2004. Corporate maintained and operated electronic election equipment in every swing state in 2004 made obvious election result changes in the election totals. This is a modern expression of Stalin’s view of elections, (paraphrased) who cares how they vote, what matters is who counts the votes. If we could vote and verify how our vote was cast and counted in the totals used to determine the election, we could "trust because we could check the trustworthiness" of our election system. Today I have not talked to a single individual who claims the system is trustworthy or verifiable. Likewise, voters including myself who know the election is corrupted, a farce, theater of public intimidation-approve trust U.S. Corporate American elections or be labeled one of the tin hat crowd. Today’s media driven circus at election time is side stepping the keystone of democracy: elections. Every voter who can not verify their vote was counted in the election is disenfranchised and can not realistically believe our government represents them. The number of these individuals who know their votes have been ignored or corrupted is growing with every election. [ A translation loop is based on the idea that confusion or ideas translated may be lost. To make sure the translation is correct the first language A is translated into language B. Then the statements in language B are translated back into language A. The original author of A can then verify the original content, intent, and meaning is in the translation. ] A Translation Loop Election starts with the casting of the ballot and checking so see if that first step was correct. Then looking at the published account of the votes and returning to the poll to cast a corrupt or certification of the ballot completes the loop with the knowledge and evidence that their vote was counted correctly or corrupted. A Translation Loop Election would be vastly easier
with an open voting system giving individuals the freedom and right
to vote and verify their vote was counted correctly. This system would
have to be regulated with criminal prosecution of election law violations,
such as vote selling or buying, and possibly holding repeat elections
when significant corruption from any electronic source is shown from
the published evidence that is generated the voter certification canvass
that each voter performs when they vote and then certifies their vote. Empowering the voter is empowering democracy. Click here to download an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file of this proposal. |