Openess
 |
I found out recently that the delegate votes at the county and state meetings are private. What does this mean to me? Here's my internal dialogue, please read to the end before commenting.
Wow. That relieves a lot of pressure I feel from my constituents. They won't know how I voted.
Besides, I keep getting these calls from irate precinct members because they demand I vote for [fill in the blank] but they themselves haven't done any research.
So, surely, I know better than they do! I’ve done so much research and my requests for them to help me have largely gone unheeded.
Oh, I really enjoyed Kim Burningham's editorial on openness and deliberation.
And, as I try to be honest with myself, I notice that my attitude (above) sounds exactly the same as the Soviets back in the day. "You, the great masses don't know enough, so we, the informed insiders, will vote in a way that will be best for you."
And thus begins the journey toward tyranny.
So, I will let you know who I vote for because you can’t vote--and I represent you. Right now I'm in the process of choosing by first eliminating those I’ve decided I won't vote for. If you click on the “declined” tag on the top of the page, you will see where I'm headed. Sometimes I will give an explanation. Sometimes, because of time restrictions, I just can't.
Ultimately, the choice will get down to one for each office.
As always, you're welcome to help me in the process. I do appreciate your well-researched and thought out feedback.
Your openness is much appreciated!
[editor's note: I disagree with the following. See my reply, which contains the note from Chairman Thomas Wright]
And having secret ballots makes cheating by those in control, so much easier!
The electronic voting procedure they are currently planning to use at the state convention is totally unverifiable. But don’t worry, they are bringing in an independent auditor–one who some candidates are alleging has past AND CURRENT ties to at least one of the US Senate candidates.
TRUST BUT VERIFY! No, never mind about the “verify” part…
I received this from Chairman Thomas Wright, which satisfies me.
Dear State Delegate,
Thank you for your dedication and service to your country, state and neighborhoods as a delegate. Yours is an important responsibility. Thank you for all you are doing. I hope you are learning a lot and enjoying your experience.
As the Chair of the Utah Republican Party (UTGOP) my number one goal has been to create an environment in which more people can participate in party activities and to ensure that their time and energy is used effectively. This year's dramatic statewide increase in Caucus Night attendance, and 2010's Vote by Mail campaign, are good examples of these types of efforts and I am glad they were successful.
I am excited to report on the next important effort that we have been working on for the last six months that will dramatically improve the State Convention experience. Because we value your time, the time of campaigns and the integrity of the voting process - we are introducing electronic voting at the April 21 State Convention.
In the past, voting at the convention has been done by either hand written paper ballots or a scantron form. Paper ballots take a significant amount of time to count, are difficult to read, easily spoiled and susceptible to error and fraud. It is common for these methods to take several hours to count for just one round of voting on a statewide race. Just think of how long it took to count the ballots in your Caucus meeting - now imagine that process with 4000 ballots!
Electronic voting will save hours, provide instant feedback, reduce frustrations with the balloting process and most importantly provide the most secure voting process we have ever had at a convention. Electronic voting provides accuracy, transparency and accountability.
Accuracy
1. The electronic keypad that will be issued to you when you register at the Convention is private and secure and is the equivalent of a secret ballot. The keypad you receive is randomly provided to you and not tracked by the party or anyone else. Your votes will be completely private and anonymous.
2. Candidates names will be displayed on the screen in the convention hall, each with a number assigned. Voting will then be declared open by the Chair. You may then press the number on your keypad to vote. There is no need to press enter or any other button. As you vote you will see the number associated with the candidate appear on an LCD screen confirming your vote. You will also see a green light indicating your vote has been cast and received by the system. If you try to vote when balloting is not open an orange light appears. The Chair will clearly announce to the delegates when balloting is open and closed to ensure everyone's has a chance to cast their vote.
3. The decision to use Electronic Voting has not been made casually. The Elections Committee, the State Central Committee, the State Executive Committee, the campaigns and candidates have all had a chance to become familiar with the keypads and the system. Potential electronic voting providers were researched and interviewed and their technology demonstrated. Of paramount concern was the accuracy of the process and eliminating the possibility of ballot tampering and election fraud. I am happy to report that the results of this extensive effort are a balloting process that is more secure than the paper ballots used in previous years.
Transparency
1. A regional independent auditing firm has been engaged to test the accuracy and integrity of the electronic voting system prior to the convention. The results of the auditing firm's tests will be shared in detail with the Elections Committee, the Convention Committee and the Rules Committee. The Elections Committee will give a report regarding the auditing firm's tests with the Convention prior to any ballots being cast. You can have confidence is the system based on an independent report, not just because the Party is telling you.
2. There will be trained Election Committee workers who can assist you at any point during Convention. They will be in purple shirts and will be moving around the Convention floor available to help answer any questions you may have and will be able to help your use your keypad. I want to make sure you have answers to the questions you need. Every delegate deserves to have all his or her questions answered prior to and during voting.
3. After you pick up your keypad and convention credentials at registration, please visit the electronic keypad voting information booth on the side of the stage where you can test your keypad to ensure it is calibrated correctly to the voting receivers. You will be able to push a number and see that it is recorded correctly before the Convention convenes at 10 a.m. There will also be a short training before any votes are cast from the stage at the start of the Convention. Test question results will be displayed on the screens.
Accountability
1. In the event a recount is demanded by a campaign, electronic voting will provide the most accurate and verifiable measure of voter intent. A paper ballot is open to varied interpretations - and often complicates a recount by further invalidating ballots. We have a system in place to account for all procedures, documentation will be in place to verify the correct functioning of the system, and each vote recorded will be available for inspection. All records will be treated the same way as other paper ballots after previous conventions as prescribed by the Utah Republican Party governing documents.
2. A control group that will represent a statistical sample of the delegates will verify their individual votes as they are cast to ensure they system is functioning accurately and is free from any fraud. The control group will consist of poll watchers chosen by each candidate.
Increased Participation
One of the unintended consequences of using paper ballots in the past is that the lengthy and cumbersome process lead to fatigue, frustration and ultimately many delegates left before the Convention was over. This means those who are left at the end of the day decide the final rounds of voting. Decisions are then made by a smaller group of delegates.
Because of the efficiency in electronic voting, more delegates will participate in the final rounds of voting which will provide for better representation for our neighborhoods. I think you will appreciate how efficiently the Convention will move because of electronic voting. Electronic voting will greatly decrease the turnaround time between rounds of voting - in fact, it's instantaneous.
Thanks again for your service to the Party. Please feel free to call or email me anytime.
Sincerely,
Chairman Thomas Wright
801.652.5700 – mobile
Thomas@utgop.org