I originally posted this as a reply to Ken’s post on “ballots in the mail”, but decided to break it out with its own title, in hopes more people might read it:
Ken, I’d like to add a comment about your Secretary of State recommendation. Jason Osgood has lots more going for him than just not being Sam Reed. I’d make that recommendation much stronger, especially because lots of folks don’t pay a lot of attention to this race (although they should–the quality of our democracy is largely determined by our voting systems).
First, in these times, an deep understanding of how computers work is crucial for someone in charge of voting. You must at least know enough to ask the right questions at a detailed level. I suspect the incumbent really does have the voters’ best interests at heart, but he doesn’t know enough to ask deep technical questions, and he’s therefore at the mercy of people who might try to push solutions he can’t evaluate.
Jason Osgood has a background in programming, and knows what questions need to be asked and, where he doesn’t know the answers, whom to ask and how to understand and evaluate their answers. Coupled with his passion for voting integrity as the foundation of a functioning democracy, he’s a far better and more qualified candidate for the job than any of those running, including the incumbent.