I ask this now , so let me have it .

[blues90]

Maybe I missed something but since the suspician was high and the proof was there the 2000 elections were stolen , so how on earth was it allowed to put in black boxes after testing them in mid 2002 in Georgia and knowing they had a real smell to them . How did this happen and still it continues to grow .

Did I miss something , so far I have not seen one in calif , so far they are the same old punch cards we have used since i've been in calif 1981 . I used one for the primaries and one other thing I was never involved in a exit poll , could this be because there is no way to mistake me for a repug or right wing by the way I look , as a musician hippy . I always wondered why no one ever asked me how i voted . Been there enough times , I never miss a vote .

[regnaD kciN]

1. Who put in the black boxes...?

It wasn't you. It wasn't me.

It was the predominantly-Republican officials with authority over how elections would be run. Those with an ulterior motive to keep their party in power.

Just like the last two Presidential elections were decided by states where the Secretary of State (the chief official in charge of elections) was also the head of Bush's campaign committee.

Basic principle: once a highly partisan group takes power, including the power over how elections are run, we shouldn't be surprised when the way they run those elections is calculated to cement and expand their group's hold on that power. :-(

[ProdigalJunkMail]

3. er...Cox in GA is a Democrat...

so...your basic principle there kind of falls apart in GA...since a Democratic SoS is running that show...

sP

[lvx35]

2. Gore Vidal said it best

regarding your first question:

In other words, I put the case that Bush was never elected--not in 2000, and not in 2004. This is a new game in the world. Through the magic of electronic voting, particularly through Mr. Diebold and friends, you can take a non-president and make him president. But how to keep the people, including the opposition who should know better, so silent, this introduces us to a vast landscape of corruption which I dare not enter.

landscapes of corruption. Vast landscapes, an entire culture of people chanting 2+2=5.

[pooja]

4. There are ways to become involved with the voting process

They do hire election officials... They are predominately older and retired people's. They pay next to nothing for the time it takes to train in the set-up and the time that it requires during the election time. If anyone can spare a "vacation" and sign up to essentially "volunteer" at the polling places, then you would have a better idea of what was going on. Aslo, there isn't an exit poller at every election site. A lot of the stats are based on surveys proceeding the election, voter turn out, and an "in general" theme. When you register to vote, you normally pick a party, if more repugs turn out, then it is safer to say that the precint went to the repugs...

[FloridaPat]

5. repub governors got them in. K. Harris here in FL opened

the bidding up to one company first and then others later to make it look like there were choices.

[blues90]

6. I have read different stories

The impression I was left with is that after the voting was done on these theft boxes that the dems could not whine since people voted on reliable machines .

Well I have to say , right , sure , call me a whiner , I could care less , I'll wear the word across my chest and back if it would get fair voting . I am amazed after the stolen 2000 elections that anyone would fall for the hype of these machines . Someone with comuter knowledge should have been allowed to take a few apart to see how they ticked then dashed them to the floor and brought suit against diebold and the other three right from the start . But this is in a working system whcih we don't have .
If I am forced to vote on one then I will carve my name with my choice in the black paint so it can be referenced . Or take a photo of the screen while my selection still shows up , time and date stamp and my camera .