[EL] Secret signatures and secret ballots

[Bev Harris]

Argumentation about secrecy of ballot vs secrecy for petition signers is
comparing apples to oranges. The reason petition signers can't be secret is
that this removes essential accounting.

The analogy that actually matches is not "secrecy of ballot vs secrecy of
petition signers" it is disclosure of petition signers just like we disclose
the poll list (who voted). Both are essential accounting measures which enable
the public to know that real human beings, and just one of each, make up the
count.

With elections, the number of people who voted has to match the number of votes.
You can't have more votes than voters and you can't have fewer votes than
ballots cast. Discrepancies in who voted vs number of ballots cast reveal
impossible numbers, which in turn can invalidate the election.

With petitions, you can't have more signatures than there are eligible voters, a
signature can't be used more than once, and the signatures must be real people.
These are accounting measures.

Both with voting and with petitions, the basic accounting must be publicly
authenticatable in order to retain the concept of self-government. If you start
saying "the government will tell us if real voters cast the votes, the public
is not allowed to know" or "the government will tell us if real voters signed
the petitions, the public is not allowed to know" you have transferred the
power vested in the people to the government and removed self-governance.











Bev Harris
Founder - Black Box Voting
http://www.blackboxvoting.org

* * * * *

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people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right
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know. We insist on remaining informed so that we may retain control over the
instruments of government we have created.

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