Harris County had to correct some ballots. No problem, just get into the county vote program and change a few votes. This time it was done under a fair amount of publicity and lots of observers. Sometime in the future we might not be that lucky.
The biggest cause of voter fraud for the last several decades have been partisan county officials doing what they feel is their duty to ensure a result which is good for them and their beliefs. This Houston Chronicle article just highlights that someone in the glass-enclosed booth could do right by God and correct what they feel are the voter's mistakes.
Our election officials are elected in partisan elections and the parties often support the person most willing to serve the party, whatever it takes. This is a problem for both Democrats and Republicans. I do see more in the GOP slowly recognizing the danger. We also have some seeing the opportunity, like Florida Rep. Tom Feeney hiring a hacker to write a program to electronically steal votes.
The county did add security measures to the voting booth hardware for this last election. Unfortunately, the biggest problem continues to be we depend on the honesty of the county and state officials with their easily hacked and easy to get into vote tabulator software.
Meanwhile, self-described RightWingNuts pursue a partisan agenda of requiring VOTER PHOTO ID to stop non-existent massive voter fraud. The real reason this is pursued is that Democrats are more likely to not have proper photo ID, 91% of R's, and 83% of D's according to a large recent Indiana study. Many Republicans believe this urban legend partly as a result of the fake GOP funded American Center For Voting Rights which was linked to Karl Rove cronies.
Stop real voter fraud, secure the vote tabulators and stop pursuing grandmothers without driver's licenses and seniors and immigrants without birth certificates.
UPDATE - Charles has more and I add a comment about bypassing the voter software entirely. The integrity of the vote is solely up to the honesty and integrity of our partisan county officials.
Off the subject, my brother was right to be worried about the trend to not being able to appeal tickets. Harris County has a non-refundable charge to appeal the new photo red light tickets.
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