Letter: Outsource elections to private businesses

Regarding "Vote early, vote often"

I recently traveled out of the country.

My ticket and boarding pass were printed at an airport kiosk in a matter of seconds and in hand ready for a scan of my passport by an agent.

Once on foreign soil, I could walk up to any ATM with my card and PIN and, in a matter of seconds, the machine begins giving me cash in the local currency and I receive a printed receipt of the transaction.

Businesses of all sizes have no trouble processing credit or debit card transactions. In fact, many cafés in European cities have wireless devices to process your check right at your table on the sidewalk.

I was traveling light, without my laptop PC, yet I could enter an Internet café, log into my bank account and pay bills, log into my brokerage account and, if the market was dropping like a rock, take emergency action to re-balance and hedge my portfolio, raise cash and otherwise take control and find peace of mind.

The financial markets process billions of transactions daily. Not to suggest that there isn't fraud, but the high degree of transaction processing accuracy is impressive and a necessity.

So is it not extraordinary that, in the year 2008, the United States has failed to implement standard policies and procedures and automate elections that are efficient and above reproach? Perhaps we should outsource federal elections to Visa or Wells Fargo to enable voting at the convenience of the nearest ATM, receipt included, video camera rolling, audit trail and governance at the highest of standards.

Although billions of dollars were wasted on poorly designed voting systems, I suggest that it is not a technology problem.

Anonymous

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