Re: [tlug] Re: Somewhat OT- open source software for US voting machines

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

Edward Middleton writes:
 > In Australia we have compulsory voting so it is arguable that some
 > voters intentionally made invalid votes.  In the US voting is
 > voluntary so the likelihood of this is very low,

That's false.  A statistically significant percentage of "spoiled
ballots" really are just that, an intentional signal that the voter
feels disenfranchised by the process or the set of candidates on
offer.  People really do vote for Mickey Mouse or the last (dead)
President that they liked as a protest.

 > i.e. a significant number of voters preferences were not recorded
 > by the current process and that may have effected the outcome of
 > the election.

As several people have pointed out, this is probably true of all
voting systems in existence.

The important thing about the U.S. process to note is that in the end
there's usually very little difference between the platforms of the
candidates.  The main difference is who they plan to give away the
taxpayer's dollar to; Reagan and Bush and Bush give it to the military
industrial complex, Carter and Clinton to the medical and construction
industries.  (Note that the Republican tax cuts were a lie.  Budgets
increased dramatically under all Republican presidents, and therefore
subtracted real resources from the rest of the economy.  That's the
true taxation.  They just left it for future taxpayers to deal with
rather than sullying themselves with current politics.)

So the American people are generally getting what they want AFAICS;
it's only a few fringes who really have any dissatisfaction to
express.