The eyes of an overweight electorate are on California, as Taco Bell continues its Recall Election Taco Poll. In this promotion, the purchase of a beef taco registers as a vote for Hollywood superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger (Jingle All the Way, Hercules in New York), while the purchase of chicken taco goes to Grady Wilson, a character on TV’s Sanford & Son. This promotion has stirred up a great deal of interest, including in Washington where lawmakers are considering if election by menu might be a viable alternative.With poor test results and low confidence plaguing the initial release of first generation “electronic election systems”, voting by food becomes an even more attractive option. A spokesman for Taco Bell confirms the chain is contemplating allowing their franchises to branch out into other elections, on a local, state, or even national scale. “Who wants to just punch buttons on some touch-screen display,” said an inside source. “There’s no tasty sour cream! But now each vote comes with a packet of hot sauce.”
But critics point out this food-based system is itself far from being problem-free. Consultants for Diebold, makers of the Accu-Vote TS electronic system, were quick to question “the decision making which led to the purchase of their most popular product corresponding to a vote for Schwarzenegger. If this continues unchecked, it would be possible to direct people into voting for one candidate over another, based solely on flavor rather than on merit. As such, it could be construed as vote tampering of the worst kind.”
Furthermore, Taco Bell must contend with accusations that taco purchases at restaurants in urban areas were misrepresented. Several African American organizations cite thousands of complaints of people being given beef tacos when they ordered chicken tacos. “In the case of 95% of orders,” said a spokesman, “we were not even given a paper receipt for our vote.” Taco Press, in their recent press release, claims the food selections were chosen innocuously and that the issue of voter misrepresentation is being investigated. Representative Katherine Harris, although not from California but with a strong history of election oversight, has already expressed interest in conducting the investigation.
