Many years ago, I tried to work through the State of Oregon elections administration in order to assure myself that there were adequate checks and balances in our vote counting in Oregon. I honestly had no suspicions, one way or another, at the time. I was simply curious and decided to call around and find out the details. I'm a programmer so I had some chance at understanding at least a few of the risks with software itself and I was curious to see if those issues had been "nailed well" by our state -- or if they hadn't been addressed well. Either way, I figured I'd learn something about the process.

I finally had to quit trying. All kinds of road-blocks were placed up, but eventually I got the response from one senior staff of the State of Oregon that it was 'secret' and that the details won't be disclosed to me. That put me off, but as I was mostly just going at this as an interested voter in the state I didn't feel this was my windmill at which to tilt. There are too many other battles in life, to go around taking on this one just because I got a "no" for an answer. So, much as I might wish otherwise, I set this question aside in my mind.  That was circa 1986 or 1987.

Since then, I've volunteered for preparing votes for counting and I've had many other interests. I've also put together a page describing 'approval voting' (linked from here) that describes an approach to making our choices that I'd like to see implemented.

Voter Confidence

I'm going to keep this page short. I'm not interested in saying much about the vote counting questions that some have brought to the table in the 2004 election -- except that it piques my interest and that I'm very glad to see that there may finally be some fresh air brought to the question of our voting systems, themselves. I think it is high time that we carefully examine various weaknesses in the systems for fraudulent manipulation and I'm glad there is some energy for bringing this issue to the near-front of our minds, today. We should use that interest and that energy to do some good for it.

My opinion is that our confidence and belief in our system of voting is central to our survival as a country worth living in. Let me explain why. New Update: And this isn't just my opinion, it turns out. The Report of the Commission on Federal Election Reform came out in September of 2005 and the very first paragraph in its Conclusion says, "Building confidence in U.S. Elections is central to our nation's democracy. The vigor of our democracy depends on an active and engaged citizenry who believe that their votes matter and are counted accurately."

Confidence in Fairness

Imagine trying to forge a viable democracy where none has gone before it, where the population is filled with mistrust and rancor between various factions. How do you build up something that works for the long run? What is central is in convincing most people in the society that while the courts and the political systems aren't perfect, that the court decisions and the legislative actions by the politicians and the day to day administration are relatively impartial. If groups of people don't believe that they have a chance in court or that they have a chance with their politicians or that they have a chance with administrators for impartial treatment, they will seek other ways to solve their problems. And those 'other ways' are, in effect, anarchy.

Each of us don't have to believe that we are always treated fairly. We may not like it, but we can still manage to get along with the rest of our lives even when we run afoul of a judge or an administrator who is acting poorly or with favoritism. So long as we think it is an isolated misfortune of ours and not a systemic thing. But without the belief, at least, that we have a fair chance at impartial treatment the next time we need to deal with a disagreement, we won't seek these established paths. We'll seek our justice in other ways, once we "lose faith."

And that means our society will fall apart.

It doesn't matter that the actual reality of the system may be that it is 'stacked against us.' What is important is what we believe about it. And when we lose our belief, then we cease to cooperate with the systems put in place and start finding other ways to meet our needs. In politics, it's all about us finding mutual compromises we can each live with -- a negotiation for a middle ground, so to speak. Each faction pulling in their own directions, but collectively finding a central place that gives no particular side all it wants but finds that marriage of ideas we can each live with and, thus, live amongst each other despite the fact that it's not everything we might have wanted to get.

Respect for the Opinion of Others

When one side completely trashes another side and won't give it the least bit of respect, all communication and negotiation shuts down. What really bothers me about politics today in the US is that (and these seems to me especially truer for the Republican rhetoric than that from the Democrat, though both sides do it) one side simply says the other side is NOT worth respecting, at all!! They act as though their opponents can't even have a single decent thought worth hearing. And that's a disaster.

Our belief in the system itself derives from our confidence that the voting system makes an accurate count of our individual choices. Without that most central belief, we lose faith in our courts and in our administrations and in our legislatures. And when that happens, everything else falls by the wayside.

Trust and mutual respect are what keep us together as a nation. Without protecting these core issues, we are doomed as a nation. Various sides need to listen to each other, hear what is being said, respect what is worth respecting and challenge the details where they seem wrong-minded. And the various sides need to be willing to accept less than 100% and to forge a compromise they can live with and then move on to the next issue without constantly looking back over their shoulders for some opportunity to sneak something over. Politics is about finding compromise. And without the willingness to compromise, we are also lost.

Trust and mutual respect. Those are the core values for our nation's survival. Any who work to sow distrust and disrespect for the important values of various factions in the US are working against the US. Period.

Common Ground and Compromise

Finally, a comment on what a shared, common government is all about -- finding common ground and shared principles we can build on and actively negotiating compromise we can all live with, in peace and without resorting to arms, on those issues where there is significant disagreement. The focus should not be on raising our disagreements to a level of encouraging more division -- in trying to foment hate and disrespect for the opinion of others, but on searching for and pointing out those areas where we can find common purpose. And where the inevitable disagreements exist, efforts should be made to dampen their effects and not heighten or exaggerate them; to either avoid making an issue of them at all, if that's possible, or else instead to actively search for a negotiated compromise that all sides can manage to live with. And doing that means we must maintain respect for hearing out the opinions of those who disagree with us. We must also be able to trust that when a negotiated compromise is found, that it was seriously pursued and that all sides will not work to find ways to undermine that compromise -- that they will, in good faith, do their part and that the only means by which that compromise is changed is when the sides get back together in open and fair discussion to re-examine the issues.

Issues that polarize us and where some side is unwilling to compromise and instead is always pushing for 100% without ever giving in to a compromise that is less than 100% won't just divide us, it's unpatriotic. When people are disingenuous in their participation with their opposition on an issue, sneaky and underhanded in their dealings, distrustful and untrustworthy themselves as a participant, the inevitable result will be to cause all of us to lose faith in the system itself. And, if broad enough in reach, that kind of ambitious insincerity would be a fatal wound to our great nation.

That's all I have to say, for now.

Feel free to email me.

Last updated: Friday, January 06, 2006 11:49