Read #45 first.
Referring back to my post #45, there is one part of the analogy I left out that I think makes the whole thing much easier to visualize.
I was comparing the physical movement of paper ballots from one place to another with moving a file stored on one computer to another computer.
Think of a computer file as a very long train made up of a great many cars. When that file is transmitted across a network, the "train" doesn't simply travel down one track from beginning to end. The data is broken into many smaller pieces called packets. Those packets can travel independently through physical network equipment and routers, sometimes taking different routes, until they reach the destination computer and are put back into the correct order so the original file can be reassembled.
Now consider the difference between TCP and UDP.
With TCP, there is a great deal of control automatically built into the transportation process. The receiving computer keeps track of what arrived and in what order. If part of the data doesn't arrive, that missing data will be retransmitted. TCP provides sequencing, acknowledgments and integrity checking so the computers can determine whether the transmission was successfully completed.
If the destination computer receives thousands of pieces but determines one piece is missing, it might say, "I received everything except packet 327. Send packet 327 again."
UDP works differently. The packets are sent, but UDP itself does not provide TCP style acknowledgments, ordering or retransmission. If packet 327 never arrives, UDP will not say, "Packet 327 is missing. Send it again." The acknowledgments, sequencing and retransmission provided by TCP are not provided by UDP itself.
That is the part of the computer analogy that I think helps visualize the transportation problem with physical ballots. The comparison isn't that requested absentee ballots are exactly like TCP while universal mail-in ballots are exactly like UDP. Both types of mailed ballots can use verification and tracking. The useful comparison is how much information, tracking and feedback can be built around each individual ballot as it moves through the system.
With a requested absentee type of ballot, there is an additional recorded step in the process. A particular voter requests a ballot, the request is verified according to that state's procedures, and the election office issues a ballot to that voter.
Other systems send ballots automatically to active registered voters without that individual request step. Keep in mind that voter rolls are not necessarily accurate and not all people listed may be technically eligible to vote. It's up to each state to address that. We'll save that problem for another time.
That request step can provide several important pieces of information before the ballot even enters the postal system.
1. The voter initiated the process by asking for a ballot.
2. Election officials have a record that this particular voter requested one.
3. The request is verified before the ballot is issued according to the procedures of that state.
4. The election office has a record showing that a ballot was issued in response to that specific request.
5. Most importantly for this analogy, the request creates the potential expectation of a return ballot before the outgoing ballot is even mailed. The voter asked for a ballot and the election office sent one. There is no guarantee that the voter will actually use or return it.
6. That gives us a clearer chain of recorded events from the very beginning. The voter requested the ballot, the request was verified, the ballot was issued, the ballot entered the mail system, the ballot may be returned, and the election office can record its receipt.
(end part 1)
