The fellow from Avante noted this and I
think that it is quite valid. The Hart system uses a brain box that creates a
printout with a random number that the voter enters into the DRE to get their
ballot to come up. These key numbers time out in ten minutes (adjustable, but
not removable). When the lines get long and voters don’t get to a DRE before
the key number times out, they go back to the judge and get a new one and try
again.
In James’ example, a voter could get
someone else’s number (just by sneaking a peek) and vote twice. The voter that
arrives at the DRE and finds that his or her number doesn’t work will go back
to the judges and get a new one, and then vote. The judges would issue a new
one based on the idea that the voter’s key number had simply timed out. Even
if they were smart enough to figure out that it had been used to cast a vote,
it wouldn’t be that voters vote and a really hot argument would
ensue.
When the election is tallied, the number
of votes will exceed the number of voters that came to the polls. However, by
that time there will be no way to figure out which ballot to
toss.
Paul
Tiger
-----Original
Message-----
From: James
Minadeo [mailto:jminadeo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 5:07
PM
To:
Paul.Tiger@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: One more thought on
Hart
Paul,
I never really thought about this
before. What if someone looks behind them at someone's PIN number and
uses that number to vote then vote's their own number? Doesn't that mean
that someone can vote twice? In a crowded polling place, this could
happen before it can be stopped.
James