Their members are chosen with the sort of care we use in choosing federal judges. Elections Canada, a nonpartisan agency, managed to count 13 million paper ballots in 301 parliamentary districts in just a few hours without a hitch. But that's just the beginning. Another serious U.S. deficiency is the absence of national standards for federal elections. Every state and county sets its own rules.
Some counties use mechanical voting machines or computer-touch screens.
Others use cumbersome paper ballots. Still others use cheap but inaccurate punch cards, as in most Florida counties. The hanging or dimpled chads that result from incomplete punches are the laughingstock of the nation because they make it so difficult to decipher the voter's intent. And that's not all. Because every state and county handles voter registration in its own way, it's hard to have much faith in the accuracy of the voter lists.