this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2024
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This brought up a concern of mine that I had last year. I tried looking but couldn't find it. Is there a way to verify that my vote was counted and specifically counted for whom I voted?
Edit: To clarify, my state does have voter history but only what elections I vote in, not how I voted.
Worst case scenario, someone intercepts my ballot and/or changes my vote. Website says "yep, you voted." Great, but I want to know it was counted correctly.
Ultimately our whole voting system needs an overhaul, but I doubt that'll happen anytime soon.
I don't believe there is, and if there was, it could be used for some really nefarious purposes!
in my state (OR) you can sign up for an email that says when your ballot was counted but not who you voted for.
Yeah there is a good reason for that to be secret: it prevents buying votes because you can't prove who you votes for, if someone offers you money to vote a certain way you can always take the money and vote the other way, no way to prove how you voted.
TBH idgaf who knows my vote history, I want the peace of mind that it was counted correctly.
I totally hear that, but at the same time it's really important for a functioning democracy that the vote be secret. For one, it empowers a suppressed class to vote against their suppressor's interests without fear of retaliation.
There is already a record of who voted for what, all of your fears could be taking place as things are now. Making it accessible to the person, even with hoops to jump through, would only be an improvement.
No, there's not. There's a record of who voted. There is a record of your political party in most states. There is no record of who you actually voted for.
The majority of votes in the USA are electronically counted, and a ballot itself is a record of a vote as well. What there isn't is a searchable index of who voted for what, and I apologize for my unclear language.
But the likelihood of oppression based on availability of those vote records is still very much there even if the voter themself doesn't have access.
Back to school. Vote-buying breaks democracy. Not having proof of who you voted for makes vote-buying pointless. Yes, your vote could be miscounted. This is generally less of a problem than the general population being able to sell their votes and can be mitigated in a variety of ways which don't tie votes to voters.
You can still buy votes with absentee ballots, are you opposed to that as well?
What's to stop me from filling it out the way I said I would, going to the voting office and saying the ballot I had previously was lost/damaged/spoiled and then voting differently than how I was paid to vote?
The premise behind a secret ballot is it can't be proven how you vote. You can still sell your vote (illegally), you just can't prove you voted the way you said you would. As shown above, absentee ballots don't remove that distinction. I suppose the criminals could just trust each other...
If you submit multiple ballots its voter fraud. If your buyer drops off your ballot on election day then there is nothing you can do to stop it that you couldn't do in the other circumstance.
This topic has been discussed for a couple thousand years now, and you clearly have access to the internet. Feel free to search for the answers on your own.
You clearly need to read more theory.
Well, all you've said is that you think it should be verifiable. What reasons do you have to support your argument? If you've read the theory, you should be able to point me in the right direction or give me an answer.
I was mocking you.
Now THAT is some privilege lol
Plenty of places in the US where you risk personal danger if people know how you voted.
Then those individuals shouldn't share how they voted, but I want the freedom to see how my vote was counted.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/political-ad-ignites-conservative-anger-women-possibly-hiding-vote-hus-rcna178584
And they have the right to conceal their vote, as they should, but why should I not have the right to reveal mine even to myself, Necromancer?
That's not how this started, moving the goalposts is pretty cheap. I was literally linking to an issue happening in this vary election that illustrates why secret ballots are so important. A position which, if you recall, you began by stating was invalid because you misunderstand (or, now more clearly, willfully misrepresent) how democracy in the US works, and your proposed "solution" only helps illustrate the easy ways vote buying and manipulation would be introduced without secret ballots. I'll block you, for obvious reasons. Good luck
Edit: additional context for added relevance
Good luck loser