Review of ballot paper design consultation paper

[Ian G Batten]

On Fri, 21 Mar 2003, Watkin Simon wrote:
> http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/files/dms/FinalBallotpaperreviewforweb
> _7744-6810__E__N__S__W__.pdf was issued in January 2003. The deadline for

It suggests replacing serial numbers with barcodes.  I can think of no
legitimate reason to want to do this apart from the government recording
all votes.  It posits ``an education initiative to explain why serial
numbers are used to assist in the combating of personation''.  It
doesn't at any point suggest not having serial numbers, although it does
ask the question if they should be discontinued.

It also makes the laughable point (at 4.3) that the benefit of barcodes
is that they increase the difficulty of identification by virtue of
requiring scanning equipment.  Simon, I know that the civil service is
full of arts graduates for whom technology is something strange, but do
people really believe that barcodes make it _harder_ to get information
off a piece of paper?  I paid 25 quid for the barcode scanner I have at
home for dealing with my CD cataloging, and it works very happily
plugged into a palm pilot.  I'm contemplating buying one of these:

http://www.baracoda.com/ouacheter/BaracodaPencil/royaumeuni_A.html

which would be the perfect thing for the job of scanning the pile of
slips showing votes for people you don't approve of.  Is ``spying on
citizens'' part of the remit of the civil service?  It bloody well looks
like it.

ian