>I'll bet if just about any state's voting procedures were scrutinized
>carefully, you'd find all kinds of abuses, ranging from negligence to
>fraud. How about recounts in the states Gore narrowly carried?
>
>Doug
On my Information Design list there've been interesting comments about the ways bad info design in government forms, etc., is responsible for disenfranchisement all over the world. Brazil has come up with an interesting voting "interface":
>Of course, we in the Rest-of-the-world have been watching the
>outcome of the American presidential elections with some irony.
>
>On the subject of voting machines and voting interfaces, I thought
>you might be interested in knowing about the Brazilian system.
>Voting here is now done through electronic ballot machines (I give
>you below the URL of a web simulation of the machine at work and
>its interface).
>
>It works thus: you choose your candidate's number on a numerical
>pad and (in case you've entered a correct number) the candidate's
>name and picture appear on the machine's screen. After that you're
>asked to confirm your choice (large green button) or to correct
>it (smaller orange button) in case you decide you've made a
>mistake. There's also a white button, for a 'blank' vote.
>
>There certainly are interface problems with this electronic ballot
>(not to mention its ugliness) - at a recent HCI conference I've
>heard complaints by HCI experts about not being heard on its
>design. The fact that one *must* know one's candidate's number to
>vote means that this number has become the most important campaign
>issue. ;-) If you enter an incorrect number (not belonging to any
>candidate or party) and confirm it, this is counted as a void vote
>(in fact the machine tells you that - as voting is mandatory in
>Brazil, a void vote is a constitutional right... ;-). Also, there
>may be problems with older citizens who are afraid of pushing
>buttons in machines of any sort.
>
>On the other hand, the fact that the candidate's picture appears
>on the screen before you actually cast your vote means that it
>wouldn't perhaps be so easy to mistakenly vote Buchanan when one
>actually wanted Gore.
>
>You can see a simulation of what I'm talking about at
>http://www.eleicoes2000.gov.br/urna/simulacao/
>
>(Remember: you must know your candidate's number to vote ;-)
>these are given in the list in the simulation page above. To vote,
>follow the link 'Urna Eletronica'.)
>
>When these electronic ballots were introduced many feared that
>they could open the way to indetectable electronic results fixing,
>but the fact that even close races (like in my city, Rio de Janeiro,
>where the present mayor failed to be re-elected by a very slim
>margin in the recent municipal elections) haven't been questioned
>shows that there has been a general confidence in the system's
>fairness.
>
>Of course, fraud and corruption may exist anywhere independently
>of the voting system used. (BTW, a nice take on this subject as
>regards the recent US elections by historian Kenneth Maxwell in
>the link below:
>
>http://www.no.com.br/servlets/newstorm.notitia.apresentacao.ServletDeNoticiaVinculada?codigoDaNoticiaVinculada=363&dataDoJornal=atual
>
>)
>
>
>regards,
>R
>
>___________________________________________________________________
>rodolfo capeto
>rcapeto at nc-rj.rnp.br
-------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <../attachments/20001112/c2ac0574/attachment.htm>