Possible use of Python for a voting machine demo project -- your feedback requested

[Paul Rubin]

"Andrew Dalke" <adalke at mindspring.com> writes:
> I approve of the Mercuri system (I think that's what it's called when a
> paper ballot is generated from an electronic ballot - the all-electronic one
> I use now is scary).  I was just thinking though.  Suppose I wanted to rig
> the elections by paying for votes.  If I know the format of the ballot, I
> could generate them myself on specially marked paper then give that
> to the people who I've payed for the vote, who go through the process
> of voting but use the paper I gave them instead of the printout..  Later, I
> or my cronies get access to the ballots (eg, "I'm a reporter and I want to
> verify the votes") and can see if my special ballots are included, and
> reward/punish as appropriate.

There is supposed to be no way to tell the paper ballots apart from
one another.  Otherwise the ballot would be a voting receipt,
something that a good voting system should not provide.  Search for
"receipt-free voting" in Google to see what a big problem this is for
computerized systems.