US warned of ballot box chaos as elections near

[T_i_B]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/story/0,,1932655,00.html

Six years after the emergence of the now infamous "hanging chad" in the 2000 presidential elections, monitoring groups warn that technological glitches and hackers could throw next month's mid-term elections into chaos.

With polling day less than two weeks away, a report this week by electionline.org, a non-partisan organisation, anticipates problems at the ballot box in as many as 10 states.

"Machine failures, database delays and foul-ups, inconsistent procedures, new rules and new equipment have some predicting chaos at the polls at worst, and widespread polling place snafus at best," the report says.

In many states, voters will be casting their votes electronically for the first time. The officials at the polling stations may be equally inexperienced, and because such workers are typically elderly and retired, critics say they may be particularly poorly equipped to deal with any technological problems.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. them also seeding the reasons to question them votes

if they should loose house or senate... not that the machines don't have any proplems, they do, and are legendary... but I find it curious that these stories are emerging now in to the press here in the US... I know the Guardian has been on top of this for a while.. but when FOX shows the film you go HMMM

[Peace Patriot]

2. I know what you mean. Why now? 2004 was just as bad as this one is

predicted to be--unrecountable, unverifiable elections, long lines, massive violations of peoples' right to vote, voter purge lists, disappeared absentee ballots, people forced to vote "provisionally," phony "terrorists" lockdowns of vote counting, shredding of Dem voter registration cards, and on and on.

Why was all of that swept under the rug? And NOW, suddenly, some parts of the corporate news monopolies are noticing that there is a problem. It does make you suspicious--this kind of story was so suppressed before and after 2004. And there was A LOT TO SAY before that one--for instance, the fasttrack conversion of the U.S. election system to extremely insecure and insider hackable voting machines and central tabulators, run on TRADE SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code, owned and controlled by Bushite corporations.

Could've been a story, don't you think? Or two or three--or ten foot headlines in the New York Times. "BUSHITES KILL DEMOCRACY!"

Not a word. Not a whisper. And after they stole it, active suppression of the facts.

I'm ambivalent about the current stories--although they are hardly screaming headlines. Just bits and pieces here and there, maybe just enough to make some voters despair, but not enough to really inform them about the real core of the matter, and get them riled up to DO something about, and thinking they CAN do something about it? Rumors, half-truths often. Touchscreens are bad, but optiscans are okay. The problem is in 17 states, or 10 states. (Note: The "problem" is in almost ALL states--spread like a cancer over the whole country--and the problem is SECRETLY PROGRAMMED CORPORATE-CONTROLLED ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS.)

But you rarely read or hear anything that clear. But it might be something else--not so much vote suppression, as preparation for "machine breakdowns" which won't be random, due to crapass machinery, but will be STRATEGIC, in Democratic strongholds, or wherever they need to fiddle the vote. Predict "machine breakdowns," then, lo and behold, the machines break down, and nobody can vote. And I wouldn't trust the Guardian all that much, actually. I've seen them publish some corporate tripe. They're sometimes an echo chamber for NYT and NPR-type propaganda.

Why I'm ambivalent is that I think it is TREMENDOUSLY IMPORTANT that people be informed and warned about the facts of our election system. 1. Because it is terribly depressing to keep losing elections that you should have won, and NOT KNOW WHY. 2. Because the people can't fix it if they don't know what's wrong. 3. I believe in democracy. I believe that information and knowledge and open government and open political discourse will result in the best solutions. And this stifled system, with its SECRET corporate vote counting, is obviously NOT producing ANY good solutions about ANYTHING, and I don't think it ever will until we restore TRANSPARENT vote counting.

I want people to vote in huge numbers. I think turnout can overwhelm the machines, in some cases. And big turnout will also increase the citizen outrage in the case of stolen elections. But mostly I want people to NEVER--NEVER!--give up on their right to vote. NEVER! It is the whole ballgame. It IS democracy. It IS our sovereign power as a people.

And people ARE catching on, and ARE protesting this rigged system in big numbers, by Absentee Ballot voting. There has been a huge increase in AB voting all over, and it has paralleled the spread of electronic voting machines. The NYT tried to spin this the other day as voters choosing "convenience." Not in California. In California, it has always been an option, and it always been easy. So, why the huge increase here--quintupled in some places--NOW? I think the NYT is full of shit. I think people don't trust these machines, and they are sending a message. They want PAPER BALLOTS, HAND COUNTED. The NYT, AP and the rest of the corporate clowns said it, in sync, like the copy had been dictated from Karl Rove's desk. Voters are choosing "convenience." Not a word, not a whisper, that it might be a protest--that people may be real unhappy with the Corporate Rulers "counting" all the votes behind a veil of corporate secrecy.

Advice: The ONLY guarantee that you will be able to cast a vote in this election is by ABSENTEE BALLOT. If the machines "break down," you will already have voted, or you will have your own ballot in hand delivering it to the polling place. What's going to happen with machine "breakdowns" is people are going to be forced to vote on "Provisional" ballots--easily tossable ballots. There is NO guarantee anywhere that an adequate supply of real paper ballots will be available. In California, the Diebold shill Sec of State gave permission to corrupt county election officials to substitute "Provisional" ballots for the real paper ballots, even though California law supposedly gives voters the RIGHT to request a real paper ballot.

NOTE: The deadline for requesting an Absentee Ballot in California is OCTOBER 31, next Tuesday (Halloween). Still plenty of time. For other states, check local rules. (The CA deadline for registering to vote is already past, but if you're registered, you can still get an Absentee Ballot.)

Bust the Machines--Vote by Absentee Ballot!

Throw Diebold, ES&S and all election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW!

And if you are a Californian, for godssakes vote for DEBRA BOWEN for Sec of State. Down with Diebold!