I agree plausible deniability may guard against political coercion, but only when all votes are anonymous - that is not the case. The ability to vote in private should be a protected right in a democratic society.
I’m referring to citizens being allowed to confirm their ballot on record, verifiably, and publicly if they so choose. It’s already completely legal to share filled out ballot photographs in 30 states…(in 5 of them only photos of mail-in ballots allowed)[0].
I hope my state modifies it’s laws to allow this, currently it’s outlawed - as it is in Georgia. One commentator suggested members of the public would manually validate some of the ballot QR codes and easily detect fraud, but Georgia outlaws it - I think that’s bad law. In spite of this variation on how “secret ballots” are implemented by member states, US is still a democracy, which you seem to agree.
There is a balance that has to be struck between election transparency and voting secrecy. Where I live, all recording of any ballot and in any polling location is outlawed. I think the only recording that should be illegal is that of other peoples ballots - as where and when you voted is already of public record, and I think one should be free to share their own ballot however they choose.
> I agree plausible deniability may guard against political coercion, but only when all votes are anonymous - that is not the case. The ability to vote in private should be a protected right in a democratic society.
Can you explain why the private vote only works when all votes are anonymous? If you know every other vote you can determine which it is, but even if a couple of votes are unknown you can't determine it 100% anymore. So why does it need to be all?
> I’m referring to citizens being allowed to confirm their ballot on record, verifiably, and publicly if they so choose. It’s already completely legal to share filled out ballot photographs in 30 states…(in 5 of them only photos of mail-in ballots allowed)[0].
This won't surprise you, but I think it's a big mistake. This makes it easy to pressure people into taking photos of their ballots to prove they voted "correctly".
> One commentator suggested members of the public would manually validate some of the ballot QR codes and easily detect fraud, but Georgia outlaws it - I think that’s bad law. In spite of this variation on how “secret ballots” are implemented by member states, US is still a democracy, which you seem to agree.
If it's really outlawed, I agree that it's bad. There should be a process for anyone to become an election observer and check for irregularities, as long as the secrecy of the vote is kept.
> There is a balance that has to be struck between election transparency and voting secrecy. Where I live, all recording of any ballot and in any polling location is outlawed. I think the only recording that should be illegal is that of other peoples ballots - as where and when you voted is already of public record, and I think one should be free to share their own ballot however they choose.
I understand your reasoning, and I can't disagree fully. But the danger of voter intimidation and suppression is real and is growing. Honestly, some of the photos from your last election absolutely shocked me - seeing people in military gear at voting booths and dropoff stations is terrifying, especially when they start recording people who they believe might be against them. Those people could follow and kill you because you look like you vote differently from them! The way to full-on authoritarianism is very, very short from your current state of affairs. While things are in such a bad state, any further movement towards weakening the secrecy of the vote could be the final nail in the coffin.
>Can you explain why the private vote only works when all votes are anonymous?
As you alluded to further down, if it is not illegal for people to publish a photograph of their ballot or a recording of their vote submission - then they can be coerced into doing just that. The idea of a secret ballot providing systemic protection against coercive influence only really works by requiring all ballots to be cast in secret, in my opinion.
>This won’t surprise you…
You are certainly not alone in the opinion that allowing ballot photographs to be made public is a big mistake, and maybe it will prove to be.
The citizens making a show of force toward voters is concerning, and I wish things were more civil and less partisan… but indeed, tensions have been escalating for several years.
Even if it is an unfounded belief and evidenced of outcome changing election fraud doesn’t exist, a growing minority of citizens losing confidence and loudly calling into question the integrity of elections is a very dangerous development.
In recent elections, election administrators on both sides of the aisle from several states have displayed incompetent failures to follow electoral processes that are designed to ensure transparency and fulfill audit requirements. This, of course, only makes matters worse. I hope it’s mostly online sensationalism and this sentiment will be quelled… bc when significant minorities of a population start to dispute the authority of leadership, stricter authoritarianism tends to be the government response, which tends to lead toward civil unrest and violent events. I share the concerns you warn about.
I’m referring to citizens being allowed to confirm their ballot on record, verifiably, and publicly if they so choose. It’s already completely legal to share filled out ballot photographs in 30 states…(in 5 of them only photos of mail-in ballots allowed)[0].
I hope my state modifies it’s laws to allow this, currently it’s outlawed - as it is in Georgia. One commentator suggested members of the public would manually validate some of the ballot QR codes and easily detect fraud, but Georgia outlaws it - I think that’s bad law. In spite of this variation on how “secret ballots” are implemented by member states, US is still a democracy, which you seem to agree.
There is a balance that has to be struck between election transparency and voting secrecy. Where I live, all recording of any ballot and in any polling location is outlawed. I think the only recording that should be illegal is that of other peoples ballots - as where and when you voted is already of public record, and I think one should be free to share their own ballot however they choose.
[0]https://www.businessinsider.com/can-i-post-photo-of-my-ballo...