To the Editor:
(Re: “Voting machine will provide faster results for Town of Creston”)
I was dismayed to discover that the Town of Creston made the decision to proceed with electronic voting machines in the recent municipal election. Experience with different types of these machines has proven that they are easily hacked or manipulated to achieve a desired result. It is particularly egregious to hear the reasoning for this decision as being the speeding up of election results.
Is anyone prepared to sacrifice the observability and verifiability of the voting process in a democracy for the sake of a few hours? Does anyone think that technology is always a better way to go, or indicates progress in some way just because it is new? If you feel that way, I suggest you watch the HBO documentary, Hacking Democracy, on Vimeo (vimeo.com/2058220) or order the DVD from Amazon.
I hope that all council members will revisit this decision, and give it some sober second thought.
Lakeview