How You See HR 811 Depends on How Broken You Think Elections Are…

[Junkdrawer]

It looks like Rush Holt’s compromise election reform bill HR 811 is coming up soon for a vote. Now, I think that what you think about this bill will depend largely on how broken you think our election system is:

1.) If you think that Electronic Voting Machines add integrity to a riggable paper system, you’ll think Holt’s Bill is a boondoggle that adds expense and complication to a system that HAVA was in the process of fixing.

2.) If you think that elections are, by and large, on the up-and-up, but that Electronic Voting Machines are open to some small amount of rigging, then Holts new bill will be your cup of tea.

3.) If you think that elections have been horribly rigged for at least the last decade and that Electronic Voting Machines are simply the last and most troubling aspect of a concerted effort to turn Election Day into a feel-good exercise, then you’re just going to hate HR 811.

As I don’t think there are many DUers in Category 1.), I’ll give you links to the Pro and Cons of HR 811:

Pro:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x481023

Con:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4889

Just a heads-up and a chance to form an opinion on what is sure to be a bloody battle here at DU.

[Peace Patriot]

1. It's like the Iraq War. The fascists make a mess, and they say, 'can't get out of this

mess now we're in it, so gotta keep making more mess." (Translation: war profiteering boondoggle, and more fascist/corporate power.)

The fascists (and collusive Democrats) make a mess of our election system--handing it over to rightwing Bushite corporations to 'count' all our votes with 'TRADE SECRET,' PROPRIETARY programming code, and virtually no audit/recount controls, and these Bushite companies really, really screw us over, every which way, from shoddy crapass machines to keeping Bush in the White House--and the fascists (and collusive Democrats) say, 'can't get out of this mess now we're in it, gotta give these fuckers billions and billions more dollars to sell us different machines, or to alter, upgrade and patch existing machines, and billions more in "servicing" contracts, and for a paper trail, and for testing, and whatall. Gotta dig deeper into the mess, because of the mess. No way outa the mess.'

(Translation: election theft industry boondoggle, and more fascist/corporate power.)

Congress should repeal HAVA, and give not one tax dollar to the election theft industry. And they should pass one simple law (machines or no machines): A ballot for every vote. Count all the votes in PUBLIC.

But the mess has to be perpetuated, because the mess is money and power. Money and power in the WRONG HANDS. That's what complicated messes and unsolveable quagmires and voting systems that nobody understands--and nobody can observe--are for.