Election Season:In a room with pre-schoolers....... and how to make it better!

Have you ever been in a room with pre-schoolers? It's soooo difficult.

Pre-schoolers are ALL after each other. Every kid in there is pointing their sticky little finger at another kid: he's mean! She won't share! They won't play nice with me! It's horrible and will drive any sane person INSANE!

Well, that to me was this election season. Except to me, it's lasted since the last election in 2000 (with a little good behavior for time off around 9/11. But not for long.)

So now we are back to square one. Back to the future.

Both sides are waiting for the night of Tuesday. Depending on the votes, we will have an outright winner or we will watch the beginning of the end of this Republic litigated in the courts.

"He's mean! He wouldn't let me vote! Your vote doesn't count because the postal date is wrong!

Why can Afghanistan get through an election with minimal cheating and we can't?

Our voting methods are developed by bureaucrats that have one eye towards gaming the system for their party's benefit. It is porous, and prone to scandal. I thought the 2000 debacle would teach us that we needed a new way to vote. I thought someone would crawl outside the present box and do something that would make it right. Our American civilization cannot work without voting that is BELIEVED to be RIGHT. If America has no confidence in the system, we are lost..... It will only be a matter of time before our system falls apart into anarchy.

So to be changed, we have to go one way or another.

We have to be super simple, like the 3rd world, or super high tech.

The super simple would be very easy to do today. We basically keep it like it is, but require a fingerprint on the voting roll book when you go to vote. By the way, the ink used, should be permanent ink that won't come off for at least 24 hours. That's what they did in Afghanistan to make sure there was no double dipping. That ink was worn like a badge of honor. If a Taliban terrorist would have caught you with that ink stain, there are reports that you would have been killed (especially the women).

The other way is the super high tech way. I believe the way to vote is via ATM machines. It is a proven technology that BANKS have perfected for over 20 years. Banks do not loose money. They know where every fraction of a penny is located. These machines MUST have the confidence of the people that they will work and be dependable. The banking system rests on that confidence. So this is how I think it should work:

• You register to vote
• An ATM Voter card is sent to you
• A PIN number is sent separately (Just like a "regular" ATM card)
• You call in and "activate" the card.
• When it is time to vote, you can use any ATM machine or special ATM machines brought in to you district
• You put in your card, tap in your PIN
• All the candidates and issues that you need to vote on, appear on the screen
• You vote
• A screen pops up asking for confirmation of your choices
• When you are done, a "receipt" pops out for you to keep, to confirm your voting choices

The ATM method can have a national "800" number to help with problems such as needing a PIN reset for forgotten numbers, as well as reassurance that your "vote" registered. If your confirmation slip show a discrepancy on how you thought you voted, the 800 number people can void the transaction, and you can do it over.

Both systems virtually eliminate multi votes. Maybe both systems should be combined? Even if you vote via ATM, your thumb must be dyed.

I pray that on Wednesday morning, we have a President Elect, without the "help" of lawyers. I also hope we look into better voting systems, before the confidence in it collapses, and we become a new 3rd world nation.