The electronic voter roll system goes “down” during voting.
Yesterday the electronic voter roll system went down.
The decision to move to this out-of-state controlled voter roll system was made by Secretary of State Monae Johnson and her assistant, Tom Diedrich. Neither Johnson nor Diedrich has a technical background, so it is bizarre that they were allowed to make this decision without some type of oversight.
As would be expected, technical people from around the state and several county auditors expressed concern. A number of people suggested that it might be wise to have backup systems and auditing procedures in place. But Johnson and Diedrich charged ahead without any safeguards.
Interestingly, a lot of non-technical people went on the offensive to support Johnson’s decision. Joe Kippley, a Minnehaha County Commissioner, has been one of the most vocal. At one point he suggested people who want audits and backup systems are “stupid”. And even called for the Minnehaha County Auditor to resign. The crime? She was auditing. I am not sure of the logic, but it sounds like he prefers an auditor who doesn’t audit.
Or perhaps the problem is Kippley does not have a technical background and he is receiving bad advice. I’m not sure, but his crazy, disrespectful comments defy common sense and logic.
At the Republican State Convention, the bizarre banter continued in the Resolutions Committee. Someone from a small community in the southern part of the state brought forth a resolution about election security. A number of non-technical people on the Resolutions Committee stated emphatically that it was impossible to have issues with electronic systems.
After the resolution was rejected twice by the committee, the matter ended up on the floor of the convention. When it reached the floor, the convention body adopted the resolution. Sadly, it does not appear the message reached the state offices.
Given the situation, one has to wonder if it might make sense for the people in power to do less ranting and more listening.
