Democrats take control after recount of the VA house of delegates by 1 vote.

[JohnBrown1917]

The US really does not want to be a democracy. Is this not what the 2nd Amendment you guys love so much was for?

[God Save The King]

Wait, that's the actual law? WTF??

That's the law in a lot of places, since the first candidate is already randomly selected, so the "coin toss" was already performed.

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I mean, if a random tiebreaker has to be used, why not just flip a coin? That is a much harder process to rig.

In the age of technology, a much more secure process is to use a third party random number generator. Take https://www.random.org/ for example, they use fluctuations in the atmosphere mixed with atmospheric noise to create unpredictable pseudo-random numbers. Just roll a number, 0 or 1, and let each candidate choose their number.

While I doubt that a coin flipper would try to cheat, there are videos of people successfully influencing coin tosses on youtube, and it's not crazy hard to do.

Also, @cubby, you might be interested in this^

[Noradin]

That's the law in a lot of places, since the first candidate is already randomly selected, so the "coin toss" was already performed.

Yes, but logically it should be the last candidate then, because due to reading from top to bottom their name would be the last the voter came accross when reading.
The one they read first is the one more likely meant to be discarded because they came accross a candidate they liked better further down.

(This is the same reason why the order of the names is randomized in the first place: People are thought more likely to just pick the first they come accross.)

[God Save The King]

Yes, but logically it should be the last candidate then, because due to reading from top to bottom their name would be the last the voter came accross when reading.
The one they read first is the one more likely meant to be discarded because they came accross a candidate they liked better further down.

(This is the same reason why the order of the names is randomized in the first place: People are thought more likely to just pick the first they come accross.)

I mean, I guess? It doesn't really matter, since it essentially never happens. We have thousands upon thousands of elections each year, this happens maybe one a decade, if even.

Generally people vote for party, and then for the first name of that party. Primaries are generally won by the person at the top of the ballot, unless there's a big campaigning effort.

[cubby]

In the age of technology, a much more secure process is to use a third party random number generator. Take https://www.random.org/ for example, they use fluctuations in the atmosphere mixed with atmospheric noise to create unpredictable pseudo-random numbers. Just roll a number, 0 or 1, and let each candidate choose their number.

While I doubt that a coin flipper would try to cheat, there are videos of people successfully influencing coin tosses on youtube, and it's not crazy hard to do.

Also, @cubby, you might be interested in this^

Interesting - and thanks. That random number generator is the obvious solution, but many non-techies wouldn't understand the first thing about it. So if the GOP lost that particular one, they would cry HACK even though they don't understand the first thing about it.

I'll have to check out those videos of the coin toss influence. Cool.

[God Save The King]

Interesting - and thanks. That random number generator is the obvious solution, but many non-techies wouldn't understand the first thing about it. So if the GOP lost that particular one, they would cry HACK even though they don't understand the first thing about it.

I'll have to check out those videos of the coin toss influence. Cool.

Most common way, one that I was able to do after an hour of trying one weekend, is to get a newer quarter, and sit it in your palm. Get used to the feeling of each side, so you can tell which side you're touching. When you catch it after tossing it, catch it with your palm. Quickly feel it, and when you turn it onto your other hand, there's a trick to flip the coin over if you think the wrong side landed. That trick was developed after people starting calling heads/tails while the coin was in the air. There are also tossing techniques, but those are countered by calling it in the air.

[cubby]

Most common way, one that I was able to do after an hour of trying one weekend, is to get a newer quarter, and sit it in your palm. Get used to the feeling of each side, so you can tell which side you're touching. When you catch it after tossing it, catch it with your palm. Quickly feel it, and when you turn it onto your other hand, there's a trick to flip the coin over if you think the wrong side landed. That trick was developed after people starting calling heads/tails while the coin was in the air. There are also tossing techniques, but those are countered by calling it in the air.

Cool. I gotta try that. I would expect that the coin toss would be NFL style - call it in the air and have it land on the ground. That's how I would do it.

[God Save The King]

Cool. I gotta try that. I would expect that the coin toss would be NFL style - call it in the air and have it land on the ground. That's how I would do it.

Yeah that also works, counteracts both common trick methods. From there, there are two more easy ways of influencing the outcome. First, is to collude with the person you want to win, and tell them which one to call.

The second way is a bit more convoluted, but I'll try to explain it.

You're a coin tosser, deciding an outcome between A and B. You want B to win. A gets to call the coin while it's in the air. You then try to influence the coin to land on tails. This is because the majority of the time, people will call heads. If B gets to call, then you try to influence to heads. This last method is the least precise, since coin influencing is hard, and you're also hoping to predict the call.