Tag voting machines

Straight Party Tickets

The only argument that I can imagine in favor of the straight party option on a ballot is that someone might accidentally vote for the wrong candidate when they mean to vote for candidates from a single party. This is where technology can help us. Since we have already moved to touch-screen voting machines we could change the straight party selection so that the straight party selection would make the candidates from our chosen party stand out but the voter would still be expected to select the individual candidates for their votes to be cast in each race.

Wrinkles In Iowa

I have read two stories now from the New York Times about questionable practices in the Iowa Caucuses. One on Iowa’s Student Vote and another on the reporting of the Democratic Caucus results. In regard to the student vote I…

Reactions to Voting

First, an issue I have long thought about. I think that the option to cast a straight party ballot should be removed. Voters should be voting for candidates, not parties. I have no objections to a voter going down the…