# Election Problems: If it doesn't alter the outcome, it doesn't matter?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-problems-if-it-doesnt-alter-the-outcome-it-doesnt-matter/275968>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [November 21, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-problems-if-it-doesnt-alter-the-outcome-it-doesnt-matter/275968 "2004-11-21T18:35:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 7

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**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-problems-if-it-doesnt-alter-the-outcome-it-doesnt-matter/275968/121 "2004-12-18T11:10:43Z")

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Just some random stuff:

> **[The trouble with technology](https://www.economist.com/united-states/2004/09/16/the-trouble-with-technology)**
>
> Can high-tech voting machines prevent a repeat of America's 2000 electoral fiasco—or will they make things worse?

> [@](#):
>
> …Touch-screen machines have problems of their own, as another Florida election vividly illustrated last January. In a local election held on January 6th in parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, 10,844 votes were cast, and Ellyn Bogdanoff won by 12 votes. Under Florida state law, a result this close triggers a manual recount. **But no recount was possible, because there was nothing to count:** the voting machines’ only paper output is the final tally.  
> …Many vendors and election officials disagree with the idea of adding printers to touch-screen machines, for a number of reasons…  
> …At present, election officials in America do not have to publish “residual” vote counts (the difference between the number of voters and the number of ballots cast in a particular race)…In one case in Indiana, 5,352 voters somehow cast 144,000 votes… [so perhaps there are more things like that… those perhaps less extreme]

Check out the freely downloadable 30 minute version of the “Votergate” film, from the film group responsible for “Outfoxed”. ([votergate.org](http://votergate.org) is a different thing) It has woman behind “black box voting” teaching Howard Dean how to hack a machine that can be singularly responsible for 100,000’s or millions of votes, etc.

[http://www.votergate.tv/](http://www.votergate.tv/)

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