Earlier this month, at a conference in San Francisco, several renowned computer scientists warned that electronic voting machines remain vulnerable to computer hackers due to serious security flaws in the operating software, calling into question the integrity of a presidential election that is still seven months away, and all other elections in the U.S. where paper ballots have been replaced by these paperless electronic machines.
There wasn't anything particularly new in the scientists' revelations other than the fact that the magazine PC World covered the issue and several other mainstream news organizations.
Arguably, any mainstream coverage these days of election fraud, a topic of such national significance that it literally affects anyone who has ever cast a ballot, can be credited to a handful of hard core voting rights activists and muckraking citizen journalists who have made it their life's mission to overhaul the way people vote and restore much needed integrity to the process.
The scientists' warnings that this year's historic presidential election can be tinkered with came on the heels of the publication of a groundbreaking new book, "Loser Take All," click here a collection of eye-opening investigative reports into past issues of election fraud authored by voting rights experts, activists, and journalists, who used old-fashioned gumshoe reporting to expose the seedy side of the business of counting votes.
Unlike the reportage leading up the invasion of Iraq, which relied heavily on anonymous sources who spoon fed mainstream reporters wild tales of Iraq's vast weapons cache, lapped up by Pulitzer Prize winning journalists and printed as fact, the reports about stolen elections, the massive purge of minorities and poor people from voter rolls, in "Loser Take All" is backed up by smoking gun evidence in the form of documents and on the record accounts from public officials and behind-the-scenes executives employed by e-voting companies.
Perhaps no one has been passionate about this issue or has worked as hard to attract mainstream attention to the cause than bestselling author Mark Crispin Miller and blogger Brad Friedman, who co-authored an essay for the book with voting rights advocate Michael Richardson.
Well before anyone understood what election fraud meant, Miller, also a professor at New York University, and Friedman, whose BradBlog website is the go-to place on the Internet for comprehensive coverage on voting issues, were sounding early warning alarms and educating the public about voting machines plagued with software bugs, the ease at which hackers can bust into the system and change the vote count for candidates, such as George W. Bush, and place him ahead of Democratic challenger John Kerry in states such as Ohio.
Miller, who wrote extensively in his book “Fooled Again” click here about the theft of countless votes cast during the 2004 presidential election--in Ohio and many other states-- were stolen from Kerry and handed to Bush, said in an interview that the 2008 election can be stolen "through pre-emption of innumerable votes, as well as through the use of e-voting machines, both paperless touch-screen machines and op-scans."
“It's safe to say that the entire federal government, insofar as it's controlled by BushCo's appointees, has been diligently working to suppress all but those votes that will support the [Republican] party,” Miller said. “The [Veterans Administration], for example, has announced that it will not help badly injured veterans register to vote since those who've been thus damaged by Bush/Cheney's war aren't likely to be big McCain supporters.”
“On top of all this, there is, of course, the fact that somewhere between 85 and 90 percent of the electorate will either cast its votes on, or have its votes counted by, computerized e-voting machinery that was manufactured, and that is being serviced, by private companies with close ties to the GOP,” Miller added. Warren O’Dell, the former chief executive of Diebold, the top manufacturer of electronic voting machines, famously declared in August 2003 that his company was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president [Bush] next year."
O’Dell’s promise became prophetic. Not only did Ohio “deliver” electoral votes for Bush in 2004, the votes were delivered to Bush illegitimately, which Bob Fitrakis documents heroically in the chapter, “As Ohio Goes...” Fitrakis has repeatedly documented the rip-off in Ohio in several books, and was instrumental in assisting the House Judiciary Committee’s probe of what took place in Ohio during the 2004 presidential election.
Miller said as long as the GOP makes the 2008 presidential campaign “look "close" enough--and, with a media system like ours, "close" can be as much as eight percentage points or even more--they're in a very good position to steal it...again.”
“All that they really need is a convincing rationale for the surprising victory of John McCain; and that rationale has been set up already--"America's not ready to vote for a black man" or "for a woman," and/or "for that woman", and, as well, "It was that long, fierce civil war within the Democratic Party," a "civil war" fomented by the GOP itself, through their manipulation of the e-voting machines used in many primaries, and the mass cross-over vote by thousands of Republicans,” he said.
Sadly, while these events in “Loser Take All” are supported by a mountain of documents, there are many, including some of the more prominent players in the progressive movement, who dismiss these findings and disregard calls to action because they believe, wrongly, that it may cast them as some sort of left-wing loon. Indeed, publications such as Salon, Mother Jones, The Nation, and TomPaine.com, have virtually ignored this hot-button issue or have written about it in such a way as to dismiss it as conspiracy theory. Editors at those publications did not return emails or phone calls seeking comment.
However, progressive news organizations such as Online Journal, BuzzFlash, AlterNet, CommonDreams, OpEd News, have been covering the issue since 2002 and are largely responsible for disseminating much of the information that appears in “Loser Take All.”
Miller attributed such ignorance by the progressive elite to a “toxic combination of denial and careerism.”
Jason Leopold is editor of the online investigative news magazine The Public Record, http://www.pubrecord.org, and the author of the National Bestseller, "News Junkie," a memoir. Visit www.newsjunkiebook.com for a preview. He is also a two-time winner of the Project Censored award, most recently, in 2007, for an investigative story related to Halliburton's work in Iran. He was recently named the recipient of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation's Thomas Jefferson Award for a series of stories he wrote that exposed how soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have been pressured to accept fundamentalist Christianity.
it's great to see some coverage of this important book. i just finished it and it's powerful reading.
one caveat: the term 'voter fraud' is used incorrectly. voter fraud refers to dead people voting or voters voting more than once. it is a major component of Republican propaganda, but, in reality, barely exists. It has been used effectively to stir up politicians in order to justify and boost restrictive voter ID laws, which have an disproportionate impact on the poor, the elderly and minorities - all traditional Democratic voters.
Election fraud - vote suppression, voter caging, voting roll purging, the use of electronic voting machines which steal, swallow and flip votes, etc - includes the varied means that lead to massive voter disenfranchisement. This phenomenon, in all its guises, is alive and well in the 21st century. Election fraud is the means by which a demographically challenged party can somehow overcome its disadvantage and pull off victory after victory, or shave the margins off its competitors' edge.
If people are finally starting to wake up or willing to acknowledge what is going on here, Loser Take All is a good place to start.
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Joan Brunwasser (139 articles, 3422 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 597 comments)
on Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 6:58:28 AM
Now, I was one of the Official Green Party Observors in Ohio 2004. Is the fact ever mentioned that if it were not for the Green Party presidential candidate, this conversation may not even be going on? Or is it easier to blame Ralph Nader for the Bush Administration?
Jason, you are right about the nature of Voter Supression and Electoral Theft. In fact,, I have long called the elections of 2000 and 2004 violations of the 1965 Voter Rights Act.
I also know that MY presidential candidate, Cynthia McKinney has been talking about this issue for a very long time. Just not in the "Progressive", Nation magazine or Air America.
So, what has been the open, public position of Barrack Obama on this issue, this blatant violation of the 1965 Voter Rights Act? Is he just too busy collecting corporate money and reaching out to Republicans to take a leadership position on this most critical issue?
While talking empty rhetoric on Change You Can Believe In?
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Michael Cavlan (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 225 comments)
on Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 11:47:29 AM
National delegations of States calling for a ratification of said Constitutional Ammendment will be led by who?
After all, there were attempts to have states push for Impeachment also. It failed miserably because the Democratic Party fought it on the state level also. Not rank and file Democrats who supported it but the LEADERSHIP of the Democratic party.
Hold them accountable and I mean with more than just tough talk or this will go no-where.
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Michael Cavlan (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 225 comments)
on Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 2:44:35 PM
He who controls the source code controls the outcome of the election. That is true in any election that uses computers for voting or counting the votes.
Joseph Stalin said, "It is not who votes that is important, but who counts the votes."
Stirling
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Lord Stirling (24 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 132 comments)
on Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 5:17:37 PM
If you want your candidate elected in 08, you better watch how the ballots are controlled, and how the votes are counted.
If it turns out to be Clinton vs. McCain, I wouldn't worry too much, as they're so similar in policies, and so close to the same corrupt power elite that manipulates DC like a puppet.
If it's Obama, I'll bet a declining dollar for sure there's gonna be lots of evidence for vigilant Citizens to catch.
I've been saying that Hillary took OH and TX not too legitimately. I guess when the Dems realized what the Repubs were doing, instead of investigations and trying to correct the problem, they decided to join them? Why else would they be so slow to investigate? I am sure of SOME congresspersons are on board to conduct hearings, but for the most part, most drag their feet.
PBS had a great special on this topic. It left me with this sinking feeling that my vote was about as good as hollering the name thru a canyon. The echo was fun, but the outcome sucked!
My Math teacher in college didn't give me much hope about my vote either. She explained the electoral college. That's obsolete for the size of our country today.
yeah, most Dems and Reps are beholden to the same monied interests anyway- with evoting machines they can take turns winning and make sure no honest Dem, Rep, indy or 3rd party wins any election they dont want them to
Paper ballots, hand counting in the local precincts on election night, publicly accountable chain of ballot custody is the most secure, reliable and transparent process and has been used efficiently and successfully all over the world and is still done many places in the US- like the NH townships where the votes differed from the big city count where they were counted on Diebold machines, which were all controlled by insider LHS- see coverage by blackboxvoting.org bradblog.com and electiondefensealliance.org
FOAVC.org If Congress won't call a convention for proposing amendments as required, why have they proposed so many themselves?
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Better World Order (4 articles, 417 quicklinks, 27 diaries, 881 comments)
on Friday, April 25, 2008 at 1:08:47 AM
Be prepaired for George Bush has something up his sleeve. This moron will attack Iran or do some more stupid and start world war III. we may not have a election in November 2008. Bush the (HYPOCRITE) ALONG WITH THE OTHER MORON Dick (HEAD) Cheney are two criminals. Bush in his speaking to groups says their should be free elections every were in the world. he preaches Democracy and beleaves in god. YES THIS IS A PURE HYPOCRITE. he beleave's in god and beleaves in killing millions of people in other counteries.sends our military to a unjust war. over 4025 military deaths. but the real subject here is we need a revelution or Rebellion to stop this CRAP. YOU PEOPLE SIT ON YOUR BEHIND'S AND DO NOTHING but complain. we will never have a democracy doing nothing. infact we never had a democracy. we now live under a dictator.
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vincent passiatore (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 168 comments)
on Friday, April 25, 2008 at 12:03:22 AM
Learning of Socrates' trial was my first exposure to the inadequacy of a contest to determine what is best. The lesson of the electoral college was another institution complicit in rigging the outcome. But over all, I thought the outcome was genuine.
It wasn't until 2000 that I would feel the frustration of a stolen election. By 2004, I was sensitized to the game, and when I heard of the Republican shenanigans: telling blacks the election was Wednesday, not allowing inspectors to check that the calibration was zero to start (in Georgia), registering a tally of ten times more voters than even showed up (in Ohio), or making people stand eight hours in the rain on line (in New Mexico), I felt the situation had become irremediable.
Everywhere on the planet, the ritual of casting a ballot has become the very symbol of democracy, yet more often than not, the choices are forced, and the outcome so disorderly or distorted that violence results.
I believe we need an international referendum on civil rights and responsibilities, to make the electoral process safe and accurate.
Education about the issues, both local and national and even international, must be injected into the process, with a public information panel installed, to decipher the influence of money or the motivation of personal or corporate profit. An even better reform would be clean money: public funding for candidates, public broadcast of the issues.
And finally, all demographics of voters must be enabled to participate, or better still, empowered and motivated to participate in the process, with accessibility and transparency at every stage of the electoral exercise, being the most desirable outcome of election reform.
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ladyguru (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 29 comments)
on Friday, April 25, 2008 at 1:28:26 AM
11 comments
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