At this point, I'm more excited about the different services and solutions that Bitcoin has sparked than Bitcoin itself
I'd like to talk about this - but recognize that I'm coming from a skeptic's point of view. On the one hand, I fully acknowledge that there are ample opportunities for security and anonymity within any bit- protocol. On the other hand, the public perception of bit- anything is "hackable thing that causes nerds to lose money." Combine that with the horrific experience this country had with Sequoia, ES&S, Diebold and all the rest in 2004 & 2008 and you're talking about one of the most corrupt polling industries in the world adopting one of the most corruptible technologies in the world and then expecting the populace to trust the outcome. I'm by no means uneducated about bitcoin, TOR and all the rest but I'd have a hard time envisioning a custody chain in which I'd place my trust. Now ask me to explain it to my mother. Compare and contrast: I've been voting absentee for pushing ten years now (in WA and CA) and in both cases, I've got a handy-dandy receipt, all sorts of official-looking paper and a system that, while a long way from incorruptible, is at least understandable without a primer clip on Youtube. And that's something enthusiasts are forgetting: vote security, for the majority of the American voting public, means this:
Bitcoin is "one of the most corruptible tools in the world" only because it's valuable but not regulated like banking. The problems lie in the inadequate infrastructure around its use, which wouldn't transfer to voting. The important thing about voting protocols is that you don't need a chain of custody you can trust; you can tally the votes yourself, and verify which camp you were counted toward. That said, using a bitcoin-like protocol for voting is serious Golden Hammer Syndrome. There's no need for a protocol intended to solve the Byzantine Generals Problem and to allow for sending arbitrary balances that can be respent, not to mention numerous other complex features worse than useless for voting. What we'd want is something much simpler (easier to audit), like blind token exchange with a central server.
Other than trust, which is pretty much the most important aspect of voting. That's essentially my point. You are mistaken on this point. Because the average voter doesn't understand hashing and data encryption, a candidate need only say "my tally is different than the 'official' one" and the election is called into question. The problems lie in the inadequate infrastructure around its use, which wouldn't transfer to voting.
The important thing about voting protocols is that you don't need a chain of custody you can trust; you can tally the votes yourself, and verify which camp you were counted toward.
I'm not sure what you mean. A cryptographic approach requires less trust than any other. The average voter needn't know what cryptographic systems are involved any more than they need to know how credit card payments are processed when they're typing in their PIN. Any candidate could claim they've won, but that's just as true now and it's never been a problem, as we don't trust the candidates to do the counting.Other than trust, which is pretty much the most important aspect of voting. That's essentially my point.
You are mistaken on this point. Because the average voter doesn't understand hashing and data encryption, a candidate need only say "my tally is different than the 'official' one" and the election is called into question.
I mean that "public trust" is the most important aspect of any vote. You seem to discount this. That's where the "mandate" comes from - voting is not a mathematical exercise, it's a popularity contest. Expecting the populace to put their trust in a system they know almost entirely for its frailty is naive. Arguing that their trust is irrelevant is equally so.
I was pretty big into Black Box Voting/Open Source Voting back in 2004; that election was straight-up stolen. Thing is, it was stolen easily and as far as voting reforms go, the biggest one is getting the kids and minorities to show up. Frankly? I think the whole country should just go absentee. Keep your receipt. Any questions? Revote.
Oregon is vote by mail. You can go to a polling place and cast a vote if there was a reconcilable problem with your ballot but other wise all by mail. I don't know of any problems with the system and it helps push turn out up a bit. So Fuck Yea! Lets have Vote by mail!
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