@SonofaGeorge @ZenHeathen @CStamp @northernlights @pinhman @gemelliz Some countries sort not by name but according to the parties' results at the most recent election, followed by new parties in order of registration. If a newbie gets the signatures from citizens earlier, they rank higher on the #ballot.

Then, parties can (and do) advertise: like "Vote list 7", so electors know to look for the 7th option on the ballot. That really helps the vision impaired or illiterate when they #vote

@SonofaGeorge @ZenHeathen @northernlights @CStamp @pinhman @gemelliz PS: Another reason not to use #ballot #scanners is the massive cost of transporting them to the many fly-in communities we have in Canada. And then bringing them back. As you always need a backup, that means at least two machines per community. Wasteful.
#election2025 #Canada

This is what democracy looks like…

Early voting opened today for the
May 3rd Australian Federal election.

@SonofaGeorge @ZenHeathen @northernlights @CStamp @pinhman @gemelliz
Keep in mind: federal #elections are simple but huge. 1 choice per #ballot. Easy & quick to count. But over 340 parallel elections. Candidate representatives & individual voters can watch the count. An open process.

Municipal elections usually have many choices per ballot. Those are complex, but small elections. Fewer scanners you may rent, fewer staff to train, but lots of choices to count.

#scanners don't scale well.
3/3

@SonofaGeorge @ZenHeathen @northernlights @CStamp @pinhman @gemelliz #Ballot #scanners are expensive. You'd have to buy tens of thousands of them, ship them, train staff how to use, provide redundant electricity, handle the data storage afterwards (or provide and secure data connections), ship them back to warehouses where they would then sit for years, rinse repeat. All the while protecting them against tampering both in the field, during transport, during storage.

An insane undertaking.
2/x

@SonofaGeorge @ZenHeathen @northernlights @CStamp @pinhman @gemelliz Doug, the feds have noticed #ballot scanners. They are not good.

They are s l o w. I've worked an election (CRD, BC) where voters had to go to the machine, ballot in hand. That created the longest lineup in any election I have ever seen. After making their choice, Viet had to wait in line over 90 minutes. There were several scanners, but they are finnicky. Some voters had used their own pens - doesn't work.

1/x on #scanners

I'm not one to brag, but I think I filled out that t-shirt quite nicely. And my #ballot even better.
#BodyPositive #VotePositive
#IVoted #GoVote #HarrisWalz
#Vote #VoteBlue #VoteBlue2024 #VoteBlueDownBallot #KamalaHarris #VoteBlueToSaveDemocracy #Harris2024 #HarrisWalz2024 #UnionMade ##UnionStrong

@ShredderFeeder

Can someone use #AI or #OCR to get the actual numbers into #alttext ?

As a #blind #voter who encountered issues at the polls this #election cycle, this information would have helped me greatly. I went to #vote on the first day of #EarlyVoting

Our county uses #verity voting equipment. This includes an #ATI - #AudioTactileInterface. A #voter can listen to the ballot in any of the four supported languages and use a dial and button to make their selections.

Because of past experience with intrusive #ElectionWorkers, the first thing I do is turn off the screen. It didn't help this time.

My particular #ballot style had 72 items. I don't remember the number of the item I was on, (First Court of Appeals, Place 9) when one election worker told another that I would need help. I said aloud that I did not need help, and that, if I did, I could ask for help at that time. Someone said that the machine might "time out" (which is not true - this is a misunderstanding - when a voter is qualified, they get a code to enter into the machine. That code expires after 30 minutes. I'd already entered it). At that point, I very carefully completed my ballot, then took the time to ensure my selections for all ballot items were as I intended. It took me about an hour overall.

I tried to file an #ADA #complaint. I asked the election workers for the complaint form. They did not provide it, and did not believe they had such a thing (they are supposed to, I've served as an #ElectionJudge - there is a stack of them in the same folder as the required ADA information that is to be posted).

They gave me a phone number to call, and the person taking my report understood me to say the equipment had timed out, so the fix was to replace it.

The ADA complaint form is also on the website, where I did complete it. I wish I'd had a voter protection number to call.