The idea that machines are required to conduct elections is incorrect, and is not accepted in all civilized nations.
Paper ballots and invigilation are all that is required to run a fair and fully auditable election, and the introduction of computers to the methods and execution of elections is nothing more than tech / futurist cultism.
Fully invigilated and hand counted paper ballot run elections are what is required. The only reasonable addition to this is, perhaps, a system like Ron Rivest's "ThreeBallot" System that does not require computer tabulation, remains paper based and also introduces a level of verifiability.
1/ Its implementation is familiarly looking and simple for voters to understand, compared to other encryption systems (arguably, the most important advantage of all).
2/ The ballots can be counted directly, without decryption. This is because they have the property that the sum of the marks is the sum of the votes for the candidate, even though any individual ballot section cannot reveal the candidate preference of the voter.
3/ There is no key that requires protection or secrecy in order to maintain security (the "Achilles' heel" of many proposed systems).
4/ While it requires a machine to validate the ballots before depositing them, afterwards the ballot record is entirely on paper and requires no additional security process beyond that afforded traditional ballots.
5/ Each voter's vote is secret, preventing vote-selling and coercion.
6/ Each voter can verify that his vote was not discarded and was correctly used and not altered in the computation of the election result. (And if not, the voter is in a position to prove that the vote counters cheated.)
7/ Everybody can verify that the election result was computed correctly.
8/ The method is designed for use with paper ballots and requires primarily low-tech devices, but is compatible with more advanced technologies.
The motivating animus of trying to arbitrarily mechanize processes comes from the psychological need of some people to hand everything in their lives over to machines, since they are incapable of handling real life themselves.
Machine are tools, not ends in themselves, and subjecting everything to them is not rational nor is it a proper application of technology.
Bitcoin was required because the money cannot be invigilated. Voting however, is not like that. It can be successfully audited by hand, and is done this way world-wide.
Invigilated voting systems do not require trust; in fact this is the only aspect in which it is similar to Bitcoin: "Don't Trust, Verify". Machines are not trusted and cannot be trusted to count votes, and neither are the human vote counters in an invigilated system; every vote is seen and verified by multiple people who are adversaries. It works. No one is trusted.
To a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. To a Bitcoiner, every problem looks like...what exactly?
The purpose of conducting a verifiably fair election is not the implementation and application of technology; the election itself is the purpose.
All of this applies generally as Andrew says, and it also applies specifically to Bitcoin.
For generations the core beliefs and foundational narratives held by the fiat Central Bankers are collapsing like a deck of cards.
As their worldview and fraudulent financial system crumbles, they will fight desperately, becoming more and more aggressive and irrational, using lawfare against Bitcoin; and some of the companies that mediate it will voluntarily capitulate and obey out of fear or love of the legacy system, “because it's the best we have right now, and rapid change is dangerous”.
Trying to convince anti-Bitcoiners or engage in rational discourse is futile. Their entire lives have been based on deception, and watching their lies refuted in real time as the price of Bitcoin goes up and fiat evaporates is too much for their febrile minds to handle.
Imagine believing the lies of the Federal Reserve for decades, only to face this harsh reality suddenly, “I have been lied to all of my life. The money I sought, fought for and stored was a lie, and now I am worth literally nothing”.
This is the hard truth they’re facing.
It's far more comfortable for fiat heads, dollaristsas, Stablecoinists, incrementalistas and “Dollars on the Blockchain” infiltraitors to keep their heads in the sand, insulated in a lie bubble, lashing out at anyone trying to pull you out (Bitcoiners).
This is their current state of mind. They are like an injured rabid dog backed into a corner, snarling and foaming at the mouth. I would genuinely pity them if not for their active roles in destroying our country and people and their money, and fighting for the slave system.
They will continue to attack and insult and lie about Bitcoin and Bitcoiners, but it won't stop what's already unfolding and can't be contained.
X (formerly Twitter)
Andrew Torba (@BasedTorba) on X
The core beliefs and foundational narratives held by post-war establishment figures are collapsing like a deck of cards.
As their worldview crumb...
Everyone should be treated with respect. If this was the starting point of all interpersonal interactions, the world would be a nicer place.
Trouble and strife begin when people stop showing the proper care and respect for others, and you can see the result of this everywhere.
Bitcoin became necessary because a class of rich men believed they were better than other people, and by dint of this, thought they did not have to take anyone else into account.
They were wrong.
In 2000 Bill Joy wrote an article entitled, “Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us”. it was published in Wired magazine.
Californian technologistas are sometimes very pessimistic and often very bad at predicting the future.
There’s no reason to believe that the future has to be a bad one or that any of the tools that are being invented now are going to be the tools that destroy mankind.
Over and over again dire predictions about how technologies are going to end mankind, will cause terrible catastrophes and other fear porn guff have been trotted out again and again; it’s always by the same class of people who are more or less the same age. They are super pessimistic, un religious, ignorant, normally super rich and desperate to control other people.
These people need to be ignored. First of all, spreading unwarranted FUD is unethical (AnthropogenicGlobal Warming for example), second there’s no technology that man has inside computers that can’t be switched off, even if it were to become a problem, which there’s no evidence that AGI is going to be.
The choice everybody faces is whether we’re going to live like a bunch of frightened children, or are we going to live like men and go to the stars and do all those other things.
If everybody’s frightened of every single invention that comes forward and goes into the market, man will never get anywhere, and I’m personally sick and tired of reading the fear from people who don’t have powerful imaginations and to want everything to stay the same forever.
These same people are terrified of bitcoin and they’re very very scared that if it gets big, deflation will happen and the economy will be destroyed.
Of course they’re totally wrong. Bitcoin is not dangerous and the fear mongers will be ignored.
However this is a perfect example of how these technologists who are scaremongers don’t really understand what they’re talking about, are men of low degree and low character and are antihuman.
It’s up to the people who create things to do things responsibly and to not let inventions get out of their labs that are dangerous. Sometimes bad things are going to happen, but the greater risk is to not do things, not experiment and not move forward.
The fact of the matter is the future doesn’t need YOU. And that’s YOUR problem, not OURS.
The text below is the complete reason why Elon and the ID Card fanatics are 100% wrong.
The UK ID card is not what you think it is. It is not a simple identity document like your passport or driving license. It is in fact, a database backed control grid and the fulfilment of Orwells nightmare.
You may have heard that legislation creating compulsory ID Cards passed a crucial stage in the House of Commons. You may feel that ID cards are not something to worry about, since we already have Photo ID for our Passport and Driving License and an ID Card will be no different to that. What you have not been told is the full scope of this proposed ID Card, and what it will mean to you personally.
The proposed ID Card will be different from any card you now hold. It will be connected to a database called the NIR, (National Identity Register)., where all of your personal details will be stored. This will include the unique number that will be issued to you, your fingerprints, a scan of the back of your eye, and your photograph. Your name, address and date of birth will also obviously be stored there.
There will be spaces on this database for your religion, residence status, and many other private and personal facts about you. There is unlimited space for every other details of your life on the NIR database, which can be expanded by the Government with or without further Acts of Parliament.
By itself, you might think that this register is harmless, but you would be wrong to come to this conclusion. This new card will be used to check your identity against your entry in the register in real time, whenever you present it to 'prove who you are'.
Every place that sells alcohol or cigarettes, every post office, every pharmacy, and every Bank will have an NIR Card Terminal, (very much like the Chip and Pin Readers that are everywhere now) into which your card can be 'swiped' to check your identity. Each time this happens, a record is made at the NIR of the time and place that the Card was presented. This means for example, that there will be a government record of every time you withdraw more than £99 at your branch of Nat West, who now demand ID for these transactions. Every time you have to prove that you are over 18, your card will be swiped, and a record made at the NIR. Restaurants and off licenses will demand that your card is swiped so that each receipt shows that they sold alcohol to someone over 18, and that this was proved by the access to the NIR, indemnifying them from prosecution.
Private businesses are going to be given access to the NIR Database. If you want to apply for a job, you will have to present your card for a swipe. If you want to apply for a London Underground Oyster Card,or a supermarket loyalty card, or a driving license you will have to present your ID Card for a swipe. The same goes for getting a telephone line or a mobile phone or an internet account.
Oyster, DVLA, BT and Nectar (for example) all run very detailed databases of their own. They will be allowed access to the NIR,just as every other business will be. This means that each of these entities will be able to store your unique number in their database, and place all your travel, phone records, driving activities and detailed shopping habits under your unique NIR number. These databases, which can easily fit on a storage device the size of your hand, will be sold to third parties either legally or illegally. It will then be possible for a non governmental entity to create a detailed dossier of all your activities. Certainly, the government will have clandestine access to all of them, meaning that they will have a complete record of all your movements, from how much and when you withdraw from your bank account to what medications you are taking, down to the level of what sort of bread you eat - all accessible via a single unique number in a central database.
This is quite a significant leap from a simple ID Card that shows your name and face.
Most people do not know that this is the true character and scope of the proposed ID Card. Whenever the details of how it will work are explained to them, they quickly change from being ambivalent towards it.
The Government is going to COMPEL you to enter your details into the NIR and to carry this card. If you and your children want to obtain or renew your passports, you will be forced to have your fingerprints taken and your eyes scanned for the NIR, and an ID Card will be issued to you whether you want one or not. If you refuse to be fingerprinted and eye scanned, you will not be able to get a passport. Your ID Card will, just like your passport, not be your property. The Home Secretary will have the right to revoke or suspend your ID at any time, meaning that you will not be able to withdraw money from your Bank Account, for example, or do anything that requires you to present your government issued ID Card.
The arguments that have been put forwarded in favour of ID Cards can be easily disproved. ID Cards WILL NOT stop terrorists; every Spaniard has a compulsory ID Card as did the Madrid Bombers. ID Cards will not 'eliminate benefit fraud', which in comparison, is small compared to the astronomical cost of this proposal, which will be measured in billions according to the LSE (London School of Economics). This scheme exists solely to exert total surveillance and control over the ordinary free British Citizen,and it will line the pockets of the companies that will create the computer systems at the expense of your freedom, privacy and money.
If you did not know the full scope of the proposed ID Card Scheme before and you are as unsettled as I am at what it really means to you, to this country and its way of life, I urge you to email or photocopy this and give it to your friends and colleagues and everyone else you think should know and who cares. The Bill has proceeded to this stage due to the lack of accurate and complete information on this proposal being made public. Together & Hand to hand, we can inform the entire nation if everyone who receives this passes it on.
Frances Stonor Saunders
