NYT - great read Op/Ed "The Election Has Already Been Hacked"

[NRaleighLiberal]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/03/opinion/midterm-election-hacked.html

Even if not a single voting machine has been compromised, we’re in trouble.


By Zeynep Tufekci
Dr. Tufekci is the author of “Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest.”

As the 2018 midterm election nears, an ominous question looms: Will this election be hacked?

The answer is: Yes, it has already been hacked.

This election has already been hacked even if not a single voting machine has been compromised. It has already been hacked even if not another ruble has been spent on spreading disinformation. It has already been hacked even if voter registration information has been undisturbed and no vote tallies are altered.

Why? Because the legitimacy of an election depends on the electorate accepting that it was fair, that everyone who tried to vote got to vote and that every vote counted. Lose that, and your voting system might as well have suffered a devastating technological attack.

Unfortunately, in much of the United States, we are no longer able to assure people that none of those things has happened. A recent poll shows that 46 percent of the American electorate do not think their votes will be counted fairly, and about a third think it is likely that a foreign country will tamper with the results.



snip - lots to read -

last paragraph

To fix that, we need to elect politicians whose platforms include the need for demonstrably fair elections. And that requires voting — warts, failings and everything else aside. Sometimes, working with what you have, rather than surrendering to cynicism, is the only strategy.

(sorry about the paywall - really worth a read)

[beachbum bob]

1. Blah blah blah...no facts..just opinion to create doubt.

Nyt is participating in the assault on America

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. Did you read the entire article? We can't stick our heads in the sand

[brer cat]

3. That is usually what is posted on the Opinion page.

I read the entire essay and didn't see an "assault on America." It was a well-written look at how voter distrust can lead to depressed levels of participation followed by some concrete suggestions on how we can shore up our crumbling voting infrastructure. It was both informative and timely.

[Amaryllis]

4. Agree wtih you. Well done. and i really like the last paragraph:

To fix that, we need to elect politicians whose platforms include the need for demonstrably fair elections. And that requires voting — warts, failings and everything else aside. Sometimes, working with what you have, rather than surrendering to cynicism, is the only strategy.

All the more reason to vote, rather than giving up because of the faults in the system.

[betsuni]

5. I was going to say the same thing.

The everything-and-everyone-is-corrupt cynicism only helps Republicans wreck the country.