Dear Editor:
One reason I voted Tuesday was to see whether Hoboken’s new computer voting machines (how were these costly things paid for?) would leave “paper trail,” a receipt given the voter as guarantee that his vote was counted and not wafted off into cyberspace or tampered with somewhere down the line. Remember Florida, 2000? Remember how the worst President in U.S. history (Ronald Reagan used to be) “won” that election?
Well, not only did I not get a receipt, but after signing my name in the ledger, I also had to sign a numbered slip of paper (mine was 26) which the woman at the booth collected, then skewed onto a pile. Why was that necessary? Any unscrupulous politician – not that they’re rare – could easily find out how #26 voted. But I tell you, before we have the Big One in November (which could well be our last, if the Neocon enemies of the Constitution stay in power) we’d better make sure that those all-important votes will be secret, and counted honestly. Can someone in charge assure us that they will be?
If they can’t, Hoboken is an ideal town to put back in use the old-fashioned ballot box, each anonymous vote tallied one by one in every ward when the polls close. Moreover, there’s nothing cheaper for the taxpayer than a box with a slot in its lid.
T. Weed