Solutions to eliminate voter fraud and mistakes

Election Overhaul Solutions
To Eliminate Fraud & Voter Mistakes
By Jeff Goolsby, Editor

Updated 3-11-02, 3-2-03
      After reading the voting machine article linked, 3-2-03, and considerable thought otherwise, I have decided to make a minor modification and re-run this editorial.
      It is extremely peculiar that cinch winners, based on polls at election time, Georgia Senator Cleland and Governor Barnes, lost by a large number of votes when all of the votes were cast using machines in which there was no way to prove or disprove that the vote tabulation results reflected the actual votes. It is also extremely peculiar that Jeb Bush won re-election after the voter scandal in Florida, and that there are more Democratic voters than Republican voters in Florida, as well as both U.S. Senators in Florida are Democrats.
      Do you doubt that the current electronic voting machines can be preprogrammed to switch Democratic votes to Republicans on a certain day? Have you noticed that your computer switches from daylight savings to standard time and vice versa on the exact correct date due to preprogramming. Do you know that hackers can enter your computer when you are on the internet, monitor everything you do, and can change anything they wish. Clearly, the Republican manufacturers can program the voting machines to switch Democratic votes only on November 5th in the years that are appropriate for each general election. The machines could even be programmed to start switching votes one hour after the first vote, as well as various other ways to fool any testing of the machines.
      There is a strong possibility that a huge number of the botched vote ballots in Florida and other states were a result of tampering because most of the uncounted votes were for Al Gore. Furthermore, exit polls have always been very accurate except in the case of Florida while Jeb Bush is governor. Clearly, the voters polled who said they voted for Al Gore, did in fact vote for him, but if someone tampered with or substituted their cards, their votes would not be counted. It is an absolute must that every legitimate vote be accurately counted and verified. Additionally, I have never seen or heard of any authority for the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent the counting, or setting any counting time limit, of legitimate votes.
      My proposed system, the Goolsby Voter System, would be virtually fraudproof, mistakeproof, and extremely simple to use by anyone accustomed to using a credit card. This would also be easy to teach to someone who has never used a credit card.
      The stalemate in Congress regarding fixing the election problem about which the Florida vote focused attention, may have been due to considering proposals that have flaws. The main objection appears to have been about the possibility of requiring too much or confusing identification. Also, it may have been that the stalemate was a matter of getting machines approved that the Republican manufacturers could program an undetectable tampering method.
      I have a proposal for a system based on HTML Forms used by the internet combined with scanners as used for credit cards. This would give an instant expressly accurate tally in the various states for state elections, and in Washington, D.C. for Federal elections. This system would require less election workers at the voting precincts. This voting system could be designed in the following manner.
      The programming of the names of various candidates and parties could be designed so that a non-programmer could fill in the appropriate candidate and party information for any election in a matter of a few minutes. This would save a considerable amount of tax money and would eventually more than pay for the scanner, computer, and printer equipment, as well as original programming cost.
      The first thing needed is to require identification that everyone already possesses. Every eligible voter has a Social Security card. Every eligible voter knows their mother's maiden name, even if the mother was an adoption mother.
      The computer database at the state voting headquarters should contain the voter statistics that is recorded on each voter card along with other information and should also connect with the death records database. Every citizen who dies in a state should be recorded as such and should be automatically removed from the eligible voter list. This would prevent voting by dead people as has been done in the past. In this manner the state voter computer would deny approval of anyone, dead or alive, that is not on the approved voter list.
      A plastic voting card containing the voters Social Security number in the concealed magnetic strip, similar to a credit card, to be prepared by the State election office and sent to every registered voter. The front of the card should contain the voter's name, picture, and voting precinct. Whenever a voter changed voting precincts, they would need to mail their voter card to the state election office for a new card with the new voting precinct. If very much time had elapsed, or facial appearance changed, since their picture on the old card was taken, they should be required to submit a new qualified picture of a size that would fit on the voter card, if necessary from a qualified photographer.
      A magnetic card reader similar to the ones used in stores or gasoline stations with a number pad and letter pad should be placed in front of a computer screen. User instructions, at the magnetic reader and in the voting booth, should be in English and Spanish as well as other appropriate languages. The voter should insert or pass the card through the reader and then punch in his or her mother's maiden name.
      The magnetic card reader would be attached to a computer operated by the election voter verifier. The reader would contain a button for each party plus independent upon which the voter would select the party to receive his or her vote, which would send the voter's name to the printer for the chosen party. The computer would be linked to the State election headquarters' computer system which would approve or disapprove the mother's maiden name. Once approved, the voter verifier would click the print button and the voter's name would be printed on the appropriate continuous sheet containing the names of voters who voted for each party for Primary elections. The voter's party vote would not be involved in the General election.
      Upon completion of printing the voter's name on the ledger sheet, the magnetic reader would then prepare, print, and deliver the magnetic strip to the voter that would activate the appropriate computer party screen on a voting machine. The beam that would activate the appropriate party screen with the appropriate candidates' names would also disable the magnetic strip making it impossible for further use.
      The voting machine would be designed to require only the magnetic voting strip to activate the voting machine. The voting machine would be programmed with HTML "Radio Buttons" with a screen touch system so that if the voter accidentally voted for the wrong person, the voter could click on the correct name and the program would remove the vote clicked in error. In this manner, it would be impossible to cast double votes as occurred in Florida.
      The voting machine computer screen would display the names of all of the candidates on one page to be considered by the voter, which should be automatically activated by the magnetic strip. The voting machine would be linked to the State Election headquarters which would keep an automatic running tally. The computer at the election headquarters would be programmed to and record that the specific voter had voted so that no one else could use the same Social Security card to vote.
      The voting machine would be programmed with a "Print" button and instruction to print the voting results. The voter should examine the printout for errors. If an error is discovered, the voter would have to correct the vote before leaving the voting booth. If the voter discovered an error, he or she could destroy the printout, placed it in the waste basket, make the necessary correction, and press the "Print" button again. The voting machine would be programmed to eject the magnetic strip only when the "Submit Vote" button is pressed. Simultaneously, the magnetic strip would eject into a waste basket under the voting machine. The voter would then remove their vote printout, and leave the voting booth.
      The voter would deposit the vote printout into a box maintained for verification with a scanner machine and in the event of a need or request for a hand count of the votes. The printout should be on a sheet of paper approximately 3" x 8".
      The voting printouts should be counted immediately with scanners immediately after the polls closed. If there is a difference between the electronic vote tabulation and the scanner tabulation, the scanner count should control. Voters in absentia via internet should print, sign their ballots, and make sure they are placed in an envelope with adequate postage correctly addressed to their voting precinct, and delivered for postmarking not later than the voting day. The absentee printout ballots would be the final authority in the event of a close count.
      This same system with minor modifications could be used on the internet in lieu of regular mail-in votes. Eligible American voters anywhere could log on to the internet, load the voting website for their state and vote on the same exact day as people who did not have access to the internet. Local people who would have needed to use the mail-in system, or anyone with an internet access, could instead use the internet instead of going to the voting precinct. The only people needing to go to the voting precinct would be voters who did not have access to the internet, or use the current standard absentee ballot system.
      Internet voting could be done during heavy rain, at work, at home, on a ship at sea, on a plane, on a military base overseas, or on vacation anywhere and in any foreign country. The state or local voting websites would have to use an encryption system similar to internet merchant accounts and credit card systems, which would prevent hackers from stealing or manipulating votes.
      Voting headquarters receiving votes via the internet should label the votes for scanner comparison with mail-in printout votes, or in the event of an unlikely need for hand counting.
      The voting poll open time for internet voting should be 5:00 AM to 9:00 PM Mountain time on the day of the voting. Vote results should not be broadcast on radio or TV until after 9:00 PM Mountain time, 11:00 PM Eastern time. Voters in areas other than continental United States should adjust their voting precinct time to correspond with this time frame. This would prevent any suspicion of bias due to news reports and speculation by the news media.
      WHEREAS, the fact that voting machines without paper ballots can easily be tampered with and can be built for secret tampering, we need to get all existing electronic voting machines that do not provide paper ballots converted to produce paper ballots. If we fail to do so, it may become impossible for Democrats to maintain the benefits created since 1932 or ever again have any control in our government.