Before we get into voting machines and possible voter fraud there, let us look at vote-by-mail. Highly secure despite what stupid, self-serving, people say. Why?
- Mailed to individual addresses making it highly unlikely bad people are going to get ahold of another person’s ballot in large droves.
- Vote-by-mail ballots have to be signed. They are then verified, just as they are verified at the polling precinct. Admittedly, there is no proof of identification, but generally speaking that is not required at a precinct either. They ask you name, find it in the book, and ask you to sign. In fact, there can verify signatures, which NEVER happens at the precinct level in my experience.
- The paper ballot can be counted and recounted to someone’s hearts content if there is any questions arising.
Now tell me where there is more chance of fraud than in voting at a polling place. If so, I will counter that with a way to beat the security at the polling place as well.
Now to the voting machines.
Do you think there is voter fraud because of the voting machines? Nah. Not very likely. Moreover, although I have no firsthand knowledge of the programming involved in those machines, I do have nearly 35 years (yes 35 years) experience as a programmer at the highest level. I was a senior programmer, database developer, business intelligence developer and analyst, business analyst, and systems analyst for a major branch of Fortune 500 Company. In short, I should know my stuff.
Let me explain it to you. The spots in the electronic ballots are just an area, a position, a spot. They are not intrinsically assigned to an individual. When the votes are tabulated, the computer program just counts how many people chose the individual spot. The computer does not even KNOW whom the vote is for. Now there is more to it naturally. There is programming that allows the individual government entity to assign a name to a spot (with appropriate descriptive information), group and categorize those spots so that you know what you are voting for as well as to insure that you can only for as many as you are entitled to in a category (usually one). That is it. Nothing magical. Nothing special. Other programmers will, admittedly, say I missed a whole lot of programming and a whole lot of steps. They are right, so very right. It is not a simple process but at the end of the day, the machine collects the number of choices for a spot on a screen and the resultant program collects the count. The spots are tied to a candidate and that is how the winner is assigned. The voting machine does not KNOW whom the spot is assigned to nor does the tabulating program. Yes, yes, yes, it is possible for someone to interdict into the tabulating program and futz with the vote but that would have to be done on a machine-by-machine or a government entity-by-government entity basis and any competent auditor would find it in a heartbeat. In any case, it would not and could not be widespread because to spot for a Mr. Smith in one jurisdiction would not be the same as Mr. Smith in another.
It is simply not going to happen.
Thus, both mail-in and voting machines are safe and reliable. There is not voter fraud except in the mind of a crazy man who was willing to foster insurrection to perpetuate his lie.
