[coldtea]

>In physical, it isn't enough to protect where the votes are done. They have to be transported back and ultimately counted somewhere.

No, they don't. At least in my country they are counted in place.

All the observers sit next to the ballot for the whole process, and when the voting ends, the box is opened and the votes are counted. The observers being several people appointed at random (like a jury) to check vote credentials and count the votes at the end + appointed representatives from each party present.

Everything is recorded on paper, the votes are stamped and kept, and the tally is then reported for that voting district.

Even if the people appointed at random wanted to tamper, they'd have to work all together + get the party representatives to agree with it, because it all happens in the open, ("reading vote #N, says party X, do we agree it says party X? (shows the vote around) registering vote #N for party X (people look as the vote is recorded, two people sign next to the vote's registration)).

Usually after the ballots are closed (election ends), it takes 5-10 hours for those people to count all the votes for a district. Then the number is announced. All country districts are announced publicly, so any individual party representative or "jury" member of any district can challenge if the numbers announced (and used for the final country-wide tally) are not accurate.

They are not allowed to leave the room, and there's also a policeman present outside.

[Jam-B]

I've been an "Election Judge" twice in Chicago. I administered my polling location twice. After voting ends, we physically collect the votes and transport them by our own vehicles to a polling location to be counted.

[coldtea]

Well, not in my country. We do it in place.

Which proves that "votes have to be transported to be counted" is not some inevitable byproduct of the paper-voting process as the parent made it sound like.

Perhaps Chicago could adopt counting in place?

[taeric]

So, how many agents are we talking about here? How are they counted at the location you too them to? Two easy targets to identify.

I'm not claiming they are impossible to harden. Just not as easy as people are claiming. And super expensive. Such that if you were truly intent to defrauds place, you would focus on poor sections first.

And our best method of defense is probably our extensive polling tests nowadays. The more we have, the more corroborating evidence we have to an outcome. This protects both forms of counting.