PBS高端访谈:选民身份证件法案对选民有何影响?

 　　ALISON STEWART, PBS NEWSHOUR WEEKEND ANCHOR: For the first time in a presidential election, nine more states are enforcing new laws requiring eligible¹ voters to present a government-issued photo ID at the polls. That includes New Hampshire, Virginia, Wisconsin and Texas.

　　The laws, which have been controversial, were ostensibly put in place to thwart² voting irregularities, but voter identity isn't the only issue in the spotlight³ this election season.

　　To help us delve⁴ into these questions, I am joined here in the studio by Wendy Weiser. She directs the democracy program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School.

　　Let's talk about North Carolina and the voter ID laws there. Do people have to show photo ID?

　　WENDY WEISER, BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE: Absolutely not. That was struck down, along with the rest of the new restrictive voting laws in North Carolina. And I do want to make it clear to your listeners and watchers that even though there have been new voting restrictions⁵ put in place in states across the country and even though some of them have not been struck down by the courts, people should not worry. For most people they are not going to experience barriers voting. It is still reasonably easy to vote and they should check their voter registration⁶ status, make a plan and get out there and vote.

　　ALISON STEWART: Let me talk to you about Texas. Texas had what some called a strict voter ID law, but the court said you have to make accommodations for those who don't have a photo ID, a government photo ID, have those accommodations been met? Is this being handled correctly?

　　WENDY WEISER: You should not have to show say a photo ID to vote in Texas right now, if you face some kind of burden, reasonable impediment to obtaining an ID. So, under the law and under a court victory right now, voters have another process where they can go through where they sign an affidavit⁷ explaining what their difficulty is obtaining that ID, and they should be able to cast a regular ballot⁸ that will count just like everybody else.

　　ALISON STEWART: Even if someone tells you something else or if you see an outdated⁹ poster.

　　WENDY WEISER: Yes. Early voting has started in Texas as well last week, and there were more than a dozen counties where there was incorrect signage, incorrectly telling people they must show a photo ID to vote. There were places like in Harris County, Texas, where there were election officials walking up and down the line telling people they need a photo ID. In none of these cases did they tell people about the other process that's available if you don't have these IDs.

　　选民身份证件法案对选民有何影响?

　　ALISON STEWART: Let's talk about the physical act of voting. I know the Brennan Center has been talking about investigating the actual physical machines which in many states are a decade old.

　　WENDY WEISER: One problem that we are concerned about this year and really going forward is that in 42 states, we found, states are using machines that are 10 or more years old, and that is close to or passed the projected life span of those machines. And what we expect to see — and I think we're already seeing — are breakdowns¹⁰, malfunctions¹¹, like vote flipping¹², where you try to press a vote for one candidate and it appears for another candidate. You know, we hope that now and having encouraged election officials to be prepared, so that if there are these kinds of problems, the machines can be immediately decommissioned, replaced with other machines. There are backup paper ballots¹³ or other processes in place. But this is a big problem that we're concerned about and something we really do need to address right after Election Day.

　　ALISON STEWART: Quick question — is hacking¹⁴ an issue? Hacking of voting machines?

　　WENDY WEISER: Absolutely not. This is not something that people need to be concerned out. Ere were reports of hackers¹⁵ actually obtaining access to voter registration databases in 20 states earlier, and that's made people really worried. But we are able to detect those. There was no tampering¹⁶.

　　But more importantly, voter registration databases are connected to the Internet. Voting machines should never be — which means that no one sitting in a basement in Moscow or anyone else should be able to access your voting machine.

　　So this is not something that security experts think is a credible¹⁷ threat to our election integrity right now.

　　ALISON STEWART: Wendy Weiser, thanks so much.

　　WENDY WEISER: Thank you for having me.

1 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

2 thwart   

v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的)

参考例句：

• We must thwart his malevolent schemes.我们决不能让他的恶毒阴谋得逞。
• I don't think that will thwart our purposes.我认为那不会使我们的目的受到挫折。

3 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

4 delve   

v.深入探究，钻研

参考例句：

• We should not delve too deeply into this painful matter.我们不应该过分深究这件痛苦的事。
• We need to delve more deeply into these questions.这些是我们想进一步了解的。

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

6 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

7 affidavit   

n.宣誓书

参考例句：

• I gave an affidavit to the judge about the accident I witnessed.我向法官提交了一份关于我目击的事故的证词。
• The affidavit was formally read to the court.书面证词正式向出席法庭的人宣读了。

8 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。

9 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

10 breakdowns   

n.分解( breakdown的名词复数 )；衰竭；（车辆或机器的）损坏；统计分析

参考例句：

• Her old car was unreliable, so the trip was plagued by breakdowns. 她的旧车老不听使唤，一路上总是出故障。 来自辞典例句
• How do we prevent these continual breakdowns? 我们如何防止这些一再出现的故障？ 来自辞典例句

11 malfunctions   

n.故障，功能障碍（malfunction的复数形式）vi.失灵（malfunction的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• The mood of defeat was as pervasive as the odor of malfunctions and decay. 失败的情绪就象损坏腐烂的臭味一样弥漫全艇。 来自辞典例句
• Possibility of engine malfunctions due to moisture, are lessened. 发动机故障的可能性，由于水分，也将减少。 来自互联网

12 flipping   

讨厌之极的

参考例句：

• I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆！
• Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。

13 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》

14 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

15 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

16 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

17 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？