Five years ago, the Supreme Court of the United States, a nine-member group, decided the outcome of the presidential election.
Regardless of which side of the debate you were on, one thing was certain-our voting cards were and still are inaccurate and easily misread.
I want my vote to count, don’t you?
Right now, we are still using out-dated, inaccurate punch cards when we could be using much more accurate equipment.
This month our City Council voted 7-1 to get new voting equipment. This was the only wise thing to do, not only because new federal laws mandate us to fix the current system, but also because we should.
Being proactive allows us to fix the problems in our voting system before we become mired in an election recount without accurate votes.
True, this new equipment does not come without a price tag. It might turn out to be incredibly expensive because we need warehouses to store the machines and a staff to keep them running smoothly. The cost will be in the millions, which is a lot of money by any standards.
However, isn’t it worth knowing that your vote will be accurately counted on an issue or candidate who is truly important to you? Can you quantify your vote?
The federal government has mandated that those punch-card systems must be changed so that mistakes cannot be rendered easily. There are a few companies that have come out with products to meet that growing demand.
These products, including the new systems coming to Utah, are not perfect. Admittedly, they still have bugs that need to be worked out-but they are better than our current system.
While we will feel some financial burden, the federal government has not been tyrannical in its new law. It is providing some help, though not footing the bill completely. Still, it will go a long way to have that money, as this problem will eventually need to be solved anyway.
On the federal level, our vote becomes one where a few thousand votes, usually in swing states, make the difference between which candidate gets a state’s electoral votes.
On the local level, highly controversial issues like last year’s propositions would be resolved with greater accuracy. Every time you cast your vote, it should be counted accurately, and these machines are the best we have for the present.
Besides increasing accuracy, these machines should speed up the time it takes to vote, thereby increasing voter turnout.
Another benefit of the touch-screen voting method is that they are more user friendly, allowing older people and people with disabilities an easier time in voting.
Sure, the first time using these machines may cause some confusion, but the benefits far outweigh the costs and harms of such a system.
We are not error-free yet, but with these new advances we are closer than we ever have been before.
Let’s be proactive and get our votes accurately counted.