2006年VOA标准英语-Electronic Voting Machines Under Scrutiny

By Paul Sisco
Washington, DC
03 November 2006
 
watch High Tech Voting Machines 

Political elections are just days away in the United States, and more than a third of the votes cast will be done so electronically. This has many people concerned about voter fraud, machine failures and the repetition of problems in past elections. 

Electronic voting machines use touch screen technology

With voters in the United States heading to the ballot¹ booth on November 7th, office seekers are campaigning furiously.  Americans are being bombarded with polls, debates and political advertising².

Television ads -- positive and negative -- are a regular part of U.S. elections, just like speeches, handshakes, and endorsements³.

And in the voting booth, increasingly, electronic voting machines are too.  About one third of voters will use them this election.  Problems with traditional ballots⁴, such as in the 2000 presidential elections when the so-called "hanging chads" on punch card ballots in Florida caused controversy⁵, laid the ground work for electronic voting  machines. And their use has increased steadily⁶ since they were introduced in 2002.

Electronic voting is meant to solve those problems -- and to make the process easier, faster and more democratic.  But there have been problems with the machines as well.  At Princeton University, Professor Edward Felton used a mock election to demonstrate how machine tampering⁷ could easily and dramatically change results.

Many states do not require a paper record from the machines, making recounts slow and almost impossible.  Other problems in recent primary elections included miscounts, frozen machines, and missing memory cards. 

Diebold Incorporated, the biggest maker⁸ of voting machines, says the problems have been taken care of. Marketing⁹ Director Mark Radke says, "In this case I just touch next to the person's name on the ballot  It allows me to vote for that particular person, and I  cannot not over-vote on that ballot."

Not all agree, such as Cyber Security consultant¹⁰ Stephen Spoonamore. "There is no electronic system in the world that cannot be hacked¹¹."

Problems prompted one candidate to tell his state's voters to use absentee ballots -- and leading many to believe the integrity of electronic voting systems is an issue for this election too.

1 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

2 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

3 endorsements   

n.背书( endorsement的名词复数 )；（驾驶执照上的）违章记录；（公开的）赞同；（通常为名人在广告中对某一产品的）宣传

参考例句：

• He must make much money on those tennis shoe endorsements he does. 他替那些网球鞋珍重广告，就赚了不少钱。 来自互联网
• But celebrity endorsements remain an important promotional tool for marketers. 尽管如此，邀明星助阵仍是营销人员重要的推广手段之一。 来自互联网

4 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

6 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

7 tampering   

v.窜改( tamper的现在分词 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• Two policemen were accused of tampering with the evidence. 有两名警察被控篡改证据。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As Harry London had forecast, Brookside's D-day caught many meter-tampering offenders. 正如哈里·伦敦预见到的那样，布鲁克赛德的D日行动抓住了不少非法改装仪表的人。 来自辞典例句

8 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

9 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

10 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

11 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。