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Editorial: Improve Turnout By Making Voting Worthwhile

By Luther Weeks on August 20, 2014

It seems that turnout is the holy grail of elections. Many election reforms are justified on a claim, true or not, that the reform will increase turnout. But, turnout is more a symptom of democracy, than an end in itself.

We have some suggestions to consider:

  • Make it easier for third-party candidates to get on the ballot, easier to qualify for public financing. Let us start with a level playing field for public financing, and officials that follow the law, with a “Chief Election Official” with actual responsibility for elections.
  • Reform the decentralized partisan election system.
  • Eliminate the “Spoiler” effect, provide more democracy, with a true runoff election when one candidate does not get 50_% of the vote.

Let us recall that in this generation, two third-party “spoilers” did win elections in Connecticut: Governor Lowell Weicker, and Senator Joe Lieberman.

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Please Review the Facts – Constitutional Amendment on Ballot in Nov

By Luther Weeks on August 18, 2014

Courant makes a mostly accurate case for and against amendment that would increase voter convenience and absentee vote fraud.

What is a voter to do? We suggest: Evaluate the evidence, read this post, read the Courant article, study some of our past posts on this issue and absentee fraud in Connecticut.

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Courant Editorial: Why Is State’s Election Website So Bad?

By Luther Weeks on August 9, 2014

The Courant has done a service to the voters of Connecticut pointing out a flaw in the Secretary of the State’s web site that does not serve voters. The editorial is not an exaggeration, it might be a bit too kind. UPDATED.

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Common Sense: [How] Do you know if your vote counted?

By Luther Weeks on August 6, 2014

The Citizen Audit has just opened up our signup for the audits for the primary, which start fifteen days after the primary. The primary is August 12th, so the audits will begin Aug 27th.

Q: So, why bother signing to spend a day observing the audits?
A: To understand and the question ” [How] Do you know if your vote counted?”

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NY: don’t follow CA in making “Top Two” error

By Luther Weeks on August 1, 2014

NY considers “Jungle Primary” we call it another “Centrist Dream”

Political Insanity – doing the same thing that has failed elsewhere, over and over.

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Cyber Risk to Power – Is not just electricity and gas

By Luther Weeks on July 27, 2014

Utility Regulator Arthur House writes on cyber risks and precautions for utilities in a Hartford Courant Op-ed. We point out the similar risks to Internet voting. While Utah takes a more studied approach to expanding their Internet voting.

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Carter Center: Study of Norway’s Internet Voting

By Luther Weeks on July 22, 2014

A recent post, brought the Carter Center’s report to our attention. Today we highlight Scott M. Fulton’s thoughtful post based on the report.

I look at a chart like this and see a gold mine of potential exploits–handoffs, air-gaps,… How long before such a system is cracked once, someplace in the world?

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Crumbling infrastructure – its not just highways and bridges anymore

By Luther Weeks on July 17, 2014

The big news in Connecticut these days is Congress’s patched-up highway bill to continue patching-up our highways, while Connecticut has the the worst highway conditions in the nation.

But we are also just as dependent on electricity and the Internet. A Washington Post editorial highlights the risks, while Ed Snowden through Glenn Greenwald confirms the reality.

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“It happens all the time.” All over the place (Part 4)

By Luther Weeks on July 13, 2014

Here we continue our review of some of our posts of past errors surfaced in Connecticut and around the country, selected from our over 900 posts.

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Ignore this post – it is based on facts and reason.

By Luther Weeks on July 8, 2014

Like Don Quixote, we have spend almost seven years tilting at myths. Unlike Don, we arm our posts with facts and reason. According to a new report, that is a losing strategy.

Note: That report itself is based on facts, reason, and that most untrusted Science, known as statistics. Therefore, it is unlikely that the report will make a significant difference.

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