Electronic Voting Machines - Could this type of exit poll work?

I found this today in the Buzzflash mailbag (http://www.buzzflash.com/mailbag/03/08/08.html) and I wondered about it. If we can't get any official response or plan that is adequate, could we do something like this? I know it wouldn't be "official" and that we'd be accused of all kinds of things, but it could at least get us information on election day if we can't get it through any other sources.

"Subj: Voter Fraud
Dear Buzz,

I'm an avid reader of BuzzFlash, and the thing that scares me most of what I read is the possibility of wholesale misuse of touch-screen voting machines. I said when Bush was installed that we'd never see another Democratic president, and I believe wholeheartedly the Republicans did not win back Congress honestly, but simply fixed the elections. Too many Democratic contenders going up to election day ahead in the polls and then the big surprise winners. So, I've been wondering ...

We have fifteen months. Would it be beyond possibility for use to organize Democrats across the country to register OUTSIDE voting area with their names, addresses and vote? Could we have an independent paper trail to at least challenge the stats if what I fear happens? Am I crazy?

If Democrats, even those of us who read this website and other left-friendly ones, volunteered at DNC headquarters and called and wrote or anything it takes to alert voters and ask for participation, would it do anything, do you think?

Thank you,
Nancy XXXXXXXXXX, deep in Bush country in Idaho. <shudder> "

Thanks to Nancy for the idea and I'm glad to know that we're all at least thinking about alternative methods.

.....by leaving BALLOTS WITH THE VOTERS INTENT! :evilgrin:
Is that so hard to understand? :shrug:

It's who we vote for that's supposed to be secret, not how our votes are counted! :)

and we need to press for it, fight for it, protest for it, etc.

At the same time, we might need to have a Plan "B", a Plan "C", etc.

and send them a survey. But of course, people would not accept your results.

So far as I know, the only way out of our current morass is

=========> STATISTICAL BALLOTING <===========

in which a subset of registered voters is selected at random and then polled by absentee ballot. You get a scientifically valid result with a fraction of the investment and much-reduced opportunities for fraud.

At this point, I don't trust Voter News Service, and it has been replaced, to the best of my knowledge, by another national exit polling service that I have no reason to trust.

I also am not sure I trust Gallup -- in fact, pretty sure I don't. Don't know enough about Zogby.

I would be happy if some progressive trustworthy people decided to start a polling/exit polling organization, just because I don't know that we have one we can trust. I am aware that how you ask questions, and who you ask, and how many times you call back those randomly selected people, etc etc all influence the results.

None of that, though, should take a moment away from efforts to get the trustworthy processes into the polling places themselves.

That is the first priority. Everything else flows from the vote.

It's my understanding that they are used in other countries to guard against vote fraud. I have trouble imagining a scenario where we can ensure that there aren't people trying to rig elections, one way or another.

Eloriel

My idea is simple.. a table, a notary public, a sign, and some volunteers..

Every polling station..


the sign would simply say??

Are you a democrat?? Will your vote be counted?

SIGN IN HERE..


and on the clipboards would be their names and how they voted..

would we be "ashamed" to say that we voted dem??? NO


so at the end of the day when the precincts shows that 700 of the 1000 registered and qualified to vote, actually voted... we would at least have some idea of how many votes we could expect to be ours.


700 total votes

500 repub
200 dem


BUT what if we had notarized verifiable sigs from 600 people who swore that they voted dem.. It would give us a starting point to challenge their results...