Our democracy is ripping itself apart.
To save it, we must design systems that value consensus over conflict and trust above all else.
VOTE{X} is an open-source, paper-based, voter-verifiable, method-neutral voting system.
Do our existing voting systems inspire trust?
The stakes couldn't be higher. The mere suspicion of electoral foul play erodes our confidence in government and democracy itself.
Voting systems must be transparent, simple, auditable, and trustworthy. If not, unscrupulous candidates can make unsubstantiated claims that elections are somehow "rigged".
In building trust, electronic voting machines fail hard:
Despite all this, several states in America use electronic voting machines without paper trails.
Paper, by contrast, is tried and true:
Paper is no panacea. Mischief can still be done or alleged:
Today, votes go into black boxes and voters need some degree of blind faith that their vote was accurately recorded. To win trust, it's not enough for voting systems to be merely accurate. They must be verifiably accurate.
Even if we could restore trust in voting, we face an equally pressing problem in our democracy. Our partisan politics is driving us off a cliff. Why?
Like a car swerving from side to side as two drivers wrestle for control of the steering wheel, two-party democracy is an erratic vehicle. The system motivates gerrymandering, concentrates power, feeds polarization, limits choice, and belches out convoluted policies. First-past-the-post is the most common form of voting in government elections. This method forces a single vote for a single candidate. The predictable result is a partisan duopoly.
In his farewell address, George Washington diagnosed the problem of partisanship as
"unfortunately having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind" [1796]
We're more optimistic. We think that the "baneful effects" are rooted in our systems, not in our souls. Luckily, it's easier to patch the former.
Other voting methods have the potential to help us steer a more graceful path. Methods such as score-voting and ranked-choice-voting allow voters to cast votes honestly, judging candidates on their ideas and their character, not their perceived electoral viability.
Score voting is widely used in non-governmental contexts, including:
Variations of score voting have been naturally observed in creatures as diverse as honey-bees and electrical-engineers.
To address these issues, we developed Vote{X}. It's an open-source framework to help people run secure paper-based elections.
The sample ballot pictured above might look different from conventional ballots in two ways:
1. Ballot Code
At the bottom of the page, there's a unique ballot code. Voters keep a copy of the code as a receipt. After the election, they can anonymously look up their recorded vote to confirm its accuracy.
2. Ballot Method
VOTE{X} supports several voting methods:
We must fundamentally reexamine our voting methods if we are to move from the theater of scorched earth to governance on common ground.
Thomas Jefferson said
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."[1786]
Modern weaponry makes that a bad option nowadays. Let's keep our blood where it belongs -- pumping through us, delivering oxygen to our vital organs.
Years later, T.J. had mellowed out, understanding that the best revolutions must come peacefully, through continuous improvements in code.
"Laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind and keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors." [1816]
Our current voting methods, unchanged for centuries, now fit like straight jackets.
Jefferson's real genius was in decentralizing power. The Ninth and Tenth Amendments let the People detoxify our political environment at the roots. Only the election of the President requires a Constitutional Amendment. Congress, governors, mayors, and so on are all elected through systems that can be changed at states and local levels.
After all, the grassroots of democracy must be refreshed from time to time with the thoughtful seeds of patriots and philosophers.