anyway, got lots to read on this thread, and work that needs to be done (I actually have a life somewhere in this mess) but I did see something I wanted to respond to. And its actually a new response, a new thought!
I have not seen the paper ballots in Texas, but it seems to me that they are being described as pen-to-paper, and therefore ridiculously more clear and easy to “determine intent” than punch ballots. (Therefore Bush is not a hypocrite.)
Well, I dunno 'bout that.
Assuming, as I must since I haven’t seen them, that the ballots are something similar to a lottery slip, it seems to be just as subjective, if not MORE subjective, to decide if a slight pen mark on a spot counts as an intent to vote, than to decide if a punched out chad means an intent to vote. After all, with the chads it’s pretty straightforward: the chad is connected by four corners. If one, two, or three of those corners are detached, it’s a vote. No corners detached? It’s not a vote. How much simpler, straightforward, and unmistakable can it possibly get?
Pen to paper, on the other hand…setting aside the people who might actually write: “I meant to vote for Bush!” on the paper, all other markings would be pretty subjective. Of course, if someone draws arrows, crosses things out, then that might be easy to discern, but I’ve had lottery slips rejected because my pen touched an extra spot. I’ve seen people’s lotto slips where they barely marked the spots, others where they scribbled all over. People do it all kinds of ways. If the Texas ballots are anything like this, what is the objective standard used, comparable to the attached/detached corners of chads, that makes the Texas statute so much more logical/fairer/more reasonable than the standard used in Palm Beach?
We all know I’m biased in terms of who I want to win, but really…it seems really obvious to me that manual determination of whether a chad is punched is much more objective than trying to decide if a light pen mark is deliberate or accidental. After all, in order to punch, you have to stick it in a metal hole and press down. In order to make a mark with a pen, the pen merely has to brush the paper. I’ve made thousands of accidental pen marks in my life…I haven’t punched many accidental holes.
Anybody got any answers for this? (silly question)
stoid