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Man Vs Machine Terminating the Vote

Posted by admin on Nov 7, 2008 in technology

 

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Ok so the title is a little misleading. I thought it would spice things up a bit. Anyways if you have been following the election you might think it was over. But actually there are still 3 very contested election results going on. One would have been resolved if a certain Alaskan politician would just go to prison already but it seems he doesn’t want to give up. The other battle is a little more closer to home in Minnesota where things are far from over.

 

As of Tuesday evening, Coleman appeared to have emerged victorious by a little over 700 votes—a margin of just 0.01 percent. Under state law, such a close result triggers an automatic recount. But even before officials began the tedious process of reexamining ballots by hand, corrections submitted from various precincts had brought the gap between the contenders to a mere 236 votes as of Friday morning.”

 

 

With such a close election and so much at stake it seems it will be down to the count for sure. What seems most interesting to me and the article as well will be to determine just how accurate counting machines are. What if it turns out that there is a huge mistake with how the machines counted and we find out that many more results could be grossly miscalculated?

 

So what could go wrong? “Even so, said Jones, perfection is never an option: A machine calibrated to be too sensitive will count tiny ink spots or wood chips in the ballot paper as votes. Making it less sensitive to avoid that problem will result in some deliberate marks by voters being ignored. So with millions of votes being tallied, the number of errors made even by well-maintained machines could easily dwarf the tiny gap between the candidates.”

 

It seems for sure that this race is far from over. I wonder if every race should be recounted that is close if the machines have this level of inaccuracy.

You can read the rest of the story here.

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Technology and Politics: Shut up Networks!

Posted by admin on Oct 31, 2008 in technology

 

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I have watched the elections since I was a kid. The oldest president I remember was a speech Jimmy Carter gave and I must have been little. I remember the election of Ronald Reagan. My birthday often falls on the election night thats why they are so ingrained!

The one thing I have noticed is that the stupid networks report that candidates have won a state when only 1-2% of the vote is actually in! This is ridiculous and it obviously has consequences. I remember even seeing a report by one of the networks saying this is damaging and can actually throw the election because less people come out and vote if they think its too late… and they still keep doing it!!!! I am sure this drives everyone nuts and not just me. Well it seems someone actually tried to do something, I only hope its not because of some other motive:

Dingell to networks: don’t call the election too soon

By Matthew Lasar | Published: October 31, 2008 – 08:45AM CT

The Chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce has asked eight media organizations not to predict the result of Tuesday’s Presidential election until all polls across the country close. “Many, myself included, believe that when television stations call elections based on the results of a few Eastern States, voter turnout elsewhere in the Nation could potentially be lower than it would otherwise have been,” John Dingell (D-MI) wrote to the companies on Thursday. “This can affect the results of the Presidential election . . . and have a dramatic impact on other contests for elected office as well.”

The Michigan Democrat’s letter reminds the networks about the confusion that set in after some media organizations made early and incorrect calls on the 2000 Presidential race. But it does not ask them to refrain from predicting Barack Obama or John McCain victories on a state by state basis.

Dingell sent his request to CBS, CNN, Disney Media Networks, the Disney-ABC Television Group, Fox Entertainment, Fox News, MSNBC, and NBC Universal.

Don’t depress the voters

The missive cites reports that more Americans have registered to vote for the first time than in any election in recent United States history. It also notes that in various states polls have closing times that range from as early as 7 p.m. EST to as late as 11 p.m. Therefore “it is critical that television coverage of the election results does not serve to depress voter turnout by calling the election for a particular Presidential candidate before all polls have closed nationwide,” Dingell wrote.

The Democratic party has registered an unprecedented number of voters in some western states, such as Nevada, which supported Bush in the elections of 2000 and 2004. Capitol Weekly reports that, since 2004, Democrats have registered 100,000 more people there than have the Republicans. The political newspaper cautiously predicts that, if Nevadans go to the polls in the same percentages that they voted in 2004, Obama will narrowly win the state.

Early network poll predictions have been a sore point with Democrats ever since 1980, when NBC used exit polls while west coasters were still voting to predict the winner in the race between President Jimmy Carter and Republican challenger Ronald Reagan. Carter then conceded defeat early.

That concession, of course, wasn’t the networks’ fault, and left Carters’ allies fuming. “You guys came in like a bunch of jerks, and I see you’re going out the same way,” then House speaker Thomas P. O’Neill furiously told a White House aide.

 

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