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Let's all be sure they don't do the same thing they did in 2000... and let's be sure they don't do the same thing they did in 2000, that they did in 2004 despite the fact that we said before the 2004 elections that we should watch them like hawks to make sure they don't do in 2004 what they did in 2000, and despite all the work and electoral reforms we somehow seemed to think were helping instead of actually making it easier to cheat. Still, "let's be sure to watch them like a hawk", that'll help. They can't pull it off right under our noses, can they? Well, they can, but maybe if we look really, really hard...
And maybe if we all hold hands and wish the same wish... and if those of us who pray, pray... and what if we all chanted, in unison, "we want the elections to be honest and true, we want the elections to be honest and true, we want the elections to be honest and true...". I know, we could all be sure to get some rabbit's feet... and put up signs to remind everyone to cross their fingers! Surely, will all that... plus, of course, we'll all be ready to watch closely... for the few minutes we're inside the polling place...
Hey, are you trying to be funny? I've been trying hard to solve the problem! I've written posts on internet forums! I've donated a few bucks to blackboxvoting.org (or was it verifiedvoting.org). I've thought about trying to figure out who to call and what to ask... I've even begun talking to myself, mumbling things like "they'll steal it again if 'we' don't do something...". Surely there are others who've been more effective... enough to make the difference?
Uh... well, unless you know for certain exactly how the vote will be handled, what mechanisms will be used, how the counts will be accomplished and much more--and have satisfied yourself that the process in your locale will be fair and honest... it probably won't be. Even then, there are tens of thousands of other local electoral offices and hundreds of different approaches, and we've made precious little progress. Without direct, hands-on action in an organized manner across the country (but especially in the most important places where the races in question really are competitive), we are going to "watch closely" as they steal it right out from under our noses--yet again. That is, unless you know for sure your electoral precinct has been sufficiently fraud-proofed as to make it really difficult to get away with anything, and you trust the people running it... I wouldn't count on it turning out honestly. By the way, there is next to nothing you can tell from just "watching", and unless you have a large-scale, trustworthy exit polling system, you probably won't ever know whether it was honest or not. Even if you've managed to get a paper-trail in place, it won't be counted/verified unless there's a certain amount of evidence of a problem--and even that is something that "they" have made all but impossible to prove.
If I had the answer, I'd share, but given the shortness of the time--without considering the general inertia (despite the rhetoric), there's not much chance we'll manage to ensure a major reduction in electoral fraud or misbehavior. There is, however, a slim chance we'll win by enough of a margin in some places that we might exceed the extent to which those behind the fraud are willing or able to shift the numbers...
Hope, it seems, springs eternal.
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