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That this page even has to exist is a
travesty.
 Certainly there has always been election
fraud, whether it was stolen ballot boxes or "sweetener" (money
or booze) used to buy votes or just plain intentional
miscounting.
But the advent of electronic voting machines makes it easy and
untraceable. It can be done under the guise of
"maintenance." It can be done at a distance. And it
can be done on a grand scale. Some people even think that
the "Help America Vote Act" which began implementation in 2002
under the Bush administration is really "Help America Vote
Hacked." Why would the administration devote so much money
to this, when we've been voting all along relatively well, and
so much else is crying out for money?
The News They Don't Report
The General Accounting Office's Report on Elections and Reliability of Electronic
Voting that has been featured on this site for over a month,
and which has been available since October, is
not listed at all in the New York Times on a
search for "'General Accounting Office' + Elections" in their
search of their own archives. Their search engine helpfully
offered to "Search Paid Death Notices and Paid Memorial Notices
for +GAO +Elections." Likewise, the Cincinnati
Enquirer had no listings for it.
Yet the GAO Report to Congressional
Requesters can be downloaded (looking pretty official) from a
government site that is open to everyone (
Click here for
GAO Report ). This report is taken very seriously by
those here in Ohio who are looking at election fraud. It's
not an easy read, and certainly not pleasant. Here's the
link to the article that describes it, which is entitled,
Powerful
Government Accountability Office report confirms key 2004 stolen
election findings,
by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey
Wasserman October 26, 2005.
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1529
Be an activist!
Send this article and/or the GAO
report to everyone on your email list (no matter what their
party affiliation — they need to know)! The article
includes a link to the GAO Report.
Some Relevant Links
http://www.blackboxvoting.org
http://www.electionline.org/ useful for info,
don't always go for their view
http://www.votetrustusa.org/
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An April 10, 2008 article in PC World, the computer
magazine, says the US presidential election in November can
be hacked. And they're computer people -- they should
know!
Will the Next Election Be Hacked?
Fresh disasters at the
polls - and new evidence from an industry
insider - prove that electronic voting machines can't be
trusted, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reports in the October
issue of Rolling Stone. His report
cites Hart InterCivic [the company that makes
Hamilton County's scanners]. Hamilton County BOE officials
assure us everything is fine...we can only wonder and
hope — and
vote.
http://www.alternet.org/stories/41483/—
The "10 Worst Places to Vote" include Ohio more than
once! America's weak spots include machines that
count backward, slice-and-dice districts...phone jamming
and other dirty tricks.
Court victory lets preserved Ohio 2004 ballots tell
new tales of theft and fraud as indictments and
convictions mount among key players in
the 2004 election.
Rigged Elections Not Taken
Seriously Enough
Given the number of security
patches that world-class programmers at Microsoft have had
to release to correct major security flaws in their Windows
operating systems, how could anyone argue that electronic
voting systems are immune to drastic manipulation? The
introduction of electronic voting has
the potential to do as much good for American democracy
as repealing the 13th Amendment would do for civil rights.
Democracies like those in
England and France rely on hand-counted paper ballots to
ensure fairness, and Americans of all political
persuasions should insist on nothing less than the same
degree of transparency and security in our own elections.
Especially in an era of rampant political
corruption and extremism (White House secrecy/dishonesty,
the vindictive leaking of Valerie Plame's identity,
disregard for U.S. and international law; recent criminal
investigation/indictment of many members of Congress;
debates on whether or not we can/should torture people,
etc.), there is no reason to entrust the electoral
process (in any part of the country) to electronic
systems that can be readily manipulated by an individual,
party, corporation or group of like-minded people. Open,
hand-counting of paper ballots in the presence of
representatives from all competing parties is by
far the best way to forestall the demise of fair, democratic
elections in the United States.
Many Americans consider fair
elections and our present degree of freedom to be an
immutable birthright. Unfortunately, there's ample reason
to believe that that attitude is tragically naive.
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