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SteveDallas · 03-11-2003, 11:48 AM

There's a question that came to me as I was reading an article about new voting machines somewhere in California. (The machines use a touchscreen input and then print out a ballot which is pre-marked.) I thought I'd throw it out for the legal (and not-so-legal) minds here to dissect.

As a US citizen, of course I have a right to vote, and a right to vote anonymously. What I want to know is, do I have a right to verify that my vote was counted and that it was indeed recorded in favor of the candidates I selected? All I did was sign a card, flip some switches, and pull the lever. For all I know there was a bad switch on my machine that caused my straight anarchist ticket to be counted in favor of the libertarians. Yes, I know they inspect the machines etc. etc.... but... I don't know. Do I have any right to go back and verify that my vote was counted the way I wanted it to be counted?

03-11-2003, 11:48 AM	#1
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	voters information rights There's a question that came to me as I was reading an article about new voting machines somewhere in California. (The machines use a touchscreen input and then print out a ballot which is pre-marked.) I thought I'd throw it out for the legal (and not-so-legal) minds here to dissect. As a US citizen, of course I have a right to vote, and a right to vote anonymously. What I want to know is, do I have a right to verify that my vote was counted and that it was indeed recorded in favor of the candidates I selected? All I did was sign a card, flip some switches, and pull the lever. For all I know there was a bad switch on my machine that caused my straight anarchist ticket to be counted in favor of the libertarians. Yes, I know they inspect the machines etc. etc.... but... I don't know. Do I have any right to go back and verify that my vote was counted the way I wanted it to be counted?