2006 mid-term elections

[jesterdood]

Will they be fair?

Despite current polls showing Democrats poised to take the house and possibly the senate, I have to admit that I have my concerns about the fairness, accuracy and reliability of the new Diebold electronic voting machines, as well as other factors that may swing the election the other way.  Bush seems pretty cocksure that his party will retain both the house and the senate and says he hasn't planned for the possiblity of defeat.  Of course I'm sure part of this is his strategy--i.e. he doesn't want to show weakness or doubt coming through the homestretch, however part of me wonders if he is privy to some things that the rest of us don't know...either an October (or November) surprise he and Rove are waiting to hatch, or perhaps he knows that the elections will in some way be fixed in his favor.

Before you tell me to take of my tin foil hat (LOL ), consider the following:

In August 2003, Walden O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold, announced that he had been a top fund-raiser for President George W. Bush and had sent a get-out-the-funds letter to Ohio Republicans. In the letters he says he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."

Conflict of interest?  Is he talking about the possiblity of rigging his machines?  And why do many of these machines NOT include the ability to print out a paper receipt or leave any kind of a paper trail?  I'm still not 100% sold on explanations to account for the differences in exit polls in the 2004 election and the "actual results" tallied by machines in key battleground states.  

It has been demonstrated that Diebold machines are capable of being hacked in to, and that a malicious user can easily switch votes from one candidate to the other without leaving a trace of evidence.

At the very least, there should be a paper trail for these machines so that any dispute over results can easily be resolved through a look a paper receipts of actual votes that were cast.  Is that too much to ask?  Thankfully, some states are now demanding that their voting machines do just this.  Others seem to be more compacent on this issue.

Utah (where I will be voting) has completely switched to Diebold machines statewide, and I must admit I'm a little nervous.  Not only about security and accuracy, but I also wonder how my next door neighbor (who is 70 years old and has volunteered in the past for running our local elections with the punchcard ballots) will be able to address any computer issues/problems that may crop up, especially since she's never used a computer in her life.

Here are some links of interest I've found on the subject:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEzY2tnwExs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_U.S._e...troversies

http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11391

http://electionarchive.org/ucvAnalysis/U...tofsky.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diebold_Ele...ity_issues

jesterdood

[Kenny]

This stuff is a real worry. I only looked at your first link so far, I'm going out in a minute so I'll have to look at the rest later. I'm not sure even how to react at this point, off the cuff I'm wondering what the solution is and beyond that I'm thinking the real underlying issue is corruption itself. How do you address corruption at its core? Seems like for as long as there are people bent on perverting or manipulating the system to their own ends they'll continue to find a way to do so. I don't know dood, gotta run now...

later,
K

[John]

Shortly after the clear vote rigging that occurred in 2000, I read an article by an American historian (whose name escapes me, sorry) stating that Americans shouldn't have been shocked ... vote rigging is an age old American tradition, in the list between apple pie and racism. Sorry, that last part was mine.

Will the vote be fair? No. Almost 100% certainly not. The question is this: Who will cheat better?

[jesterdood]

And the beat goes on....

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/11/01...it-favors/

You know, there will always be those who attempt to affect election results through wrong doing...such as sending out mailers encouraging blacks to vote the day after election day, or sending out mailers to threaten jail time to legal immigrants who have every right to vote (http://www.agweekly.com/articles/2006/11...ws05.txt), or phone blocking schemes
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con....etc...For some, the ends justify the means, and if it takes cheating to aquire a desired result for what they think is for the good of the country, then somehow that makes cheating a worthwhile and noble cause.  

You are right that there are some events (such as these) that are out of our control.  But the fact is, there are also some things we CAN control and at least level the playing field to some extent to make the system more fair.  It seems obvious to me that if we can send man to the moon, we surely can come up with a ballot that is tamper-proof and that can be verified by the voter and subject to a recount if necessary.  I have no problem with electronic voting.  It does away with the "hanging chad" problem that was an issue in the 2000 election...but how fucking hard can it be to make a machine print out a paper receipt that can be verified by the voter, concealed in an envelope and placed in a ballot box?

Shit man, maybe I'm being too much of an idealist, but I think a clean voting process from the time you enter the voting booth to the time your vote is counted is definately doable.

LMNWYT <-- and when you are done with that, let me know how they taste. ;)

[Kenny]

Thanks for the laugh dood!

I absolutely agree, it certainly should be doable. The only thing preventing it, it would seem, would be a lack of motivation on the part of those in a position to make it happen and the influence of those who want to continue to cheat. They certainly wouldn't want to see all the loopholes get closed.

I have alot of issues with the whole voting process actually. For example, I don't understand why it always comes down to a race between the two major parties. Is that called a 2 party system? I also question the whole campaign system, where vested interest groups are able to pour big bucks into the campaign of their guy, who in turn agrees, even unofficially, to act on their behalf ahead of public interest.

It seems like the whole system needs an overhaul, but it also seems like there's little will to change on the part of those who are in the position to make the changes. They're the ones who are benefiting from keeping things the way they are, so what's going to motivate tham to want to change anything?

Then their's the old thing of the new good administration that replaces the bad old administration, but before long they become just as bad as the bad guys were. There's the old saying, power corrupts. It's practically a proverb. Is it true that human beings are just fallible by nature and no leaders will ever be much better than the last? I'm not saying I believe that, I'm just throwing it out there.

K

[yames]

Hey Mr Bush plays a great game of golf people. Get your priorities right! This is an important issue, not some joke. His golf swing clearly indicates he has what it takes to  run the US effectively. Whats the problem? Also he can alleviate the hassle of having to go vote cuz they arent counted anyway... not having to bother voting saves time and effort.
Go Bush.

[John]

Elections! It doesn't matter who you vote for, the republicans always get in! Astounding that voting irregularities should favour republicans. Can't understand it. Baffling.

[yames]

My entire post was a sarcastic joke.... u didnt see that? Now thats Baffling.

[jesterdood]

This is quite alarming.  

I saw the HBO special last night, "Hacking Democracy"   It really is worth watching if you have HBO and get a chance.  Here is the schedule.

Click here for some information about voting problems going on right now with the upcoming election.  Did you know with some machines you can push a yellow button in the back and vote as many times as you want?    

Click here for a program that ran on CNN today.  Did you know some of these machines are given to poll workers to take home for days at a time where they can be tampered with to fix an election?

Shit man, there really is no excuse for this incompetence and lack of accountability.



jesterdood

[yames]

jesterdood Wrote:This is quite alarming.  

I saw the HBO special last night, "Hacking Democracy"   It really is worth watching if you have HBO and get a chance.  Here is the schedule.

Click here for some information about voting problems going on right now with the upcoming election.  Did you know with some machines you can push a yellow button in the back and vote as many times as you want?    

Click here for a program that ran on CNN today.  Did you know some of these machines are given to poll workers to take home for days at a time where they can be tampered with to fix an election?

Shit man, there really is no excuse for this incompetence and lack of accountability.



jesterdood

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Ive been messing up all my posts to date..... Kenny has been coming along behind me tidying up the mess.... he's told me how to correctly reply to a post, but I can't see any of the options he told me to use... so I hope this one comes out correctly.

That rigged election info is totally scary. My first thought was OMG someone needs to do a docco and expose this..... but duh CNN had the same thought....oops. What can be done now? Basically putting your vote in is a farce and a waste of time cuz it wont influence a planned outcome will it? If the wrong leaders are running the most powerful country in the world (by cheating their way in) the democracy is literally gone and you may as well consider yourself a citizen (or resident) of a communist country. Very scary indeed, I hope the American people all protest and refuse to vote with the machines! They need to do SOMETHING!