Tamar;

In the early 1930's, San Francisco introduced mechanical voting machines. They were in use until about 1975, when it was decided that we should use paper ballots like the rest of the state. The advantage of the "machine" was that within a few minutes of the polls closing the election results would be known.

With the paper system, San Francisco, like Florida, is still counting votes. A very important proposition is leading by 11 votes with thousands more to be counted, as of 6 A.M. today.

Concern for interfering with any system is justifiable as any system can be tampered with be it mechanical, paper or electronic.

While the vote count was going on Tuesday evening (much better than watching Monday night football), I had visions of Jimmy Carter and United Nations Peace Keepers at voting places throughout the United States, rifles raised and ready to shoot any offender. As we do this with other nations it only seems appropriate that such consideration should be given to an election of this importance. The world must be laughing at the United States over the inability to count votes and decide who won the election.

As each state has it’s own laws, I could see some state Governors calling out the National Guard and ordering shooting anyone caught in or around a voting place after the polls closed. Just an extension of Kent State if you will.

What we are observing is truly democracy in action and one must equate democracy with anarchy as with a true democracy everyone has an equal voice. That is why we have a Republican form of Democracy. At least that is what I learned after getting my degrees in History and Political Science. All that may have changed as technology has changed and seems to drive the economy and moral principles (or rather a lack of morals).


Tom