MarkusQ's Journal: Control of US Senate may come down to...a font selection?

So, coming down to the wire, we see that control of the US Senate is pretty much a toss up with a half dozen or so races potentially deciding if control lands in the hands of the Republicans, the Democrats, or some 3rd Party. According to a story in the Washington Post one of those races may come down to the choice of font used on the electronic voting machines in several counties.

Why? Because "although the larger type is easier to read, it also unintentionally shortens the longer names on the summary page of the ballot" -- shortening in the case of the Senate candidate meaning it leaves off his last name. This means he will be listed as "James H. 'Jim'..." on an ballot that also includes a "James T. 'Jim'..." running against a "James P. 'Jim'..." which is not expected to cause undue confusion.

Officials claim that it is simply a computer 'glitch' and should almost certainly be fixed by the 2007 general election.

Ballots (bullocks)

[Doctor O]

Geezus. As a German I can just shake my head in disbelief about how fucked your voting system and equipment is. To be honest, in Germany it's also possible that someone becomes chancellor (the German equivalent of the POTUS) even if someone else has more votes overall, so it's a tie here, but both the ballots and the Diebold vote stealing machines are so incredibly stupid ideas that I can only wonder why American citizens don't get out on the streets and demonstrate to outlaw both.

Please get me right, I thi

US Apathy

[MarkusQ]

Can you explain to me why you 'merkins don't just use PEN and PAPER to vote, like, say, whole farking Europe? It's as quick to count, and it IS the paper trail your voting machines won't produce unless hell freezes.

As you probably know, the main excuses given are 1) our ballots are more complicated, 2) they take longer to count, 3) it isn't "fair" to handicapped individuals who need assistance to use them, 4) there are more (or at least more obvious) opportunities for abuse. None of these hold water whe

Re:

[Doctor O]

As you probably know, the main excuses given are 1) our ballots are more complicated, 2) they take longer to count, 3) it isn't "fair" to handicapped individuals who need assistance to use them, 4) there are more (or at least more obvious) opportunities for abuse. None of these hold water when you think about it, but there you are.

Actually I don't understand why ballots were introduced at all. I don't see any benefit, but I see lots of downsides. (Some of the stated reasons are indeed BS, as handicapped peo