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Tag(s): Democracy; Television; Video; Vote Theft; Voter Fraud
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July 17, 2007 at 15:18:12

HBO film on secret vote counting gets Emmy nomination

by Bev Harris Page 1 of 2 page(s)

www.opednews.com

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hacking democracy producers

It doesn't get more mainstream than this: The HBO documentary about computerized voting, Hacking Democracy, been nominated for an Emmy for outstanding investigative journalism.

The film shows the detective story that uncovered the inappropriate practice of counting votes in secret, inside electronic voting machines. It chronicles the work of Black Box Voting, catching election workers in the act of destroying audit trails and rigging a 2004 presidential recount. It shows the famous "Thompson hack" and "Hursti Hack", and gets Diebold's head engineer on tape claiming it couldn't be done.

Hacking Democracy was aired on national television 26 times last year, educating millions of Americans about the high risk of electronic voting. It has also been shown in theatres in Great Britain and Europe, where secret electronic voting is creeping into more national election systems.

The film that told America the truth was created by two Englishmen.

Russell Michaels

Russell Michaels was the primary researcher for the film. He became intrigued by the issue of electronic voting in 2003. Working quite literally on a shoestring, Michaels and a colleague, film editor Simon Ardizzone, scraped together enough seed money to travel from England to America.

Simon Ardizzone

One of their first stops was Riverside County, California, where they captured chilling video of the obstructions faced by Linda Soubirous when she attempted to do a meaningful recount of her election for county supervisor. Some of the Riverside scenes show up in a riveting outtake scene, where attorney Greg Luke is interviewed about the secrecy and the recount sham. This week, Luke won a similar case in Alameda County, where the judge may order a new election; also this week, Riverside officials received a report from a Blue Ribbon Panel recommending going back to paper ballots.

In early 2004, Michaels and Ardizzone filmed the bizarre San Diego practice of sending voting machines home for sleepovers, and captured voting machines malfunctioning in Georgia.

The film also shows rare footage of a touch-screen voting machine flipping votes, in a New Orleans election. Republican candidate Susan Bernecker tested voting machines and captured machine after machine switching votes for Bernecker to a candidate named Gambaluca.

Sarah Teale

Michaels and Ardizzone joined forces with gutsy producer Sarah Teale, who will have the rare privelege of competing against herself in the Emmy Awards this September, because another of her films, Dealing Dogs, was also nominated.

The subject matter in Hacking Democracy was so controversial that all three filmmakers were subjected to brutal maneuverings to kill the film, both from Diebold and from political interests. Teale had already shown herself to be a fearless filmmaker, and she had prevailed before in persuading HBO muscle to back up her productions with the controversial film Mumia Abu-Jamal: A Case for Reasonable Doubt?

Even after producing several films requiring an extra strong backbone, which also include The Whistleblower, a portrait of Charles Hamel who blew the whistle on big oil in Alaska, Teale has told us that the behind-the-scenes maneuverings to impede "Hacking Democracy" were among the worst she's ever encountered.

Michaels and Ardizzone collected over 200 hours of film for the 80-minute "Hacking Democracy." They interviewed eye witnesses to dozens of incidents, going back at least three decades, and they obtained a rare interview with one of the attorneys involved in the original scandals reported in the book "VoteScam" by James and Kenneth Collier. Storylines began to tangle and create knots in the editing, so in the end, Michaels and Ardizzone opted to develop a clean, concise documentary told in the compelling format of a detective story. Eighty minutes made it into the film, 200 hours landed on the cutting room floor.

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http://www.blackboxvoting.org

Bev Harris is executive director of Black Box Voting, Inc. an advocacy group committed to restoring citizen oversight to elections.

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2 comments

Founder of the NC Coalition for Verified Voting.We passed a law to require VVPB on August 2005 after years of work. NC Coalition for Verified Voting is an all volunteer organization that does not solicit or accept donations.
ncvoterFounder of the NC Coalition for Verified Voting.We passed a law to require VVPB on August 2005 after years of work. NC Coalition for Verified Voting is an all volunteer organization that does not solicit or accept donations.

Get the DVD

The "Hacking Democracy" website refers readers to Docudrama to purchase the DVD for $21.95.

Thats half the price that some places are offering it for.

by ncvoter (16 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 107 comments) on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 9:19:12 PM

Bev Harris is executive director of Black Box Voting, Inc. an advocacy group committed to restoring citizen oversight to elections.
Bev HarrisBev Harris is executive director of Black Box Voting, Inc. an advocacy group committed to restoring citizen oversight to elections.

Correct, Joyce McCloy of NC Verifiable Voting

You, Joyce, have been clear that you don't like Black Box Voting. Not all citizens agree with you, and they have the right to express themselves as well, as they do in some of the letters I am reprinting below.

For those who believe that our voting rights are in jeopardy, "Hacking Democracy" has a unique ability to bring the unitiated from 0 to 60 miles an hour on the topic in just 80 minutes. As you can see from the following comments, it produces exactly the kind of citizen motivation we need to tackle this monster:

Here are some of the comments from people whose eyes were opened by this film:

"I am half way through watching the video about your research into the faulty voting system in our "democratic" country. I was shocked when I saw the problems, lies and apparently criminal actions of so many people we have trusted in the past. While I would not have wanted to believe it, this type of activity is the same as if an armed militia member were standing beside us to make sure we are voting for the person holding the current majority of power and money in our country. ...What can one person do in my little town, I may ask myself....I am willing to try and do as much as possible ..."

"I have prepared a letter about Hacking Democracy that I wish to submit to our local newspaper, to family and friends, and then to our local Libertarian Party members. ... Thank you for your help and for your ongoing efforts."

"Loved the documentary on HBO! I am a student here in California. I want to make all the students aware of the scam perpetrated by the Diebold ... I want to be an "evangelist" on this issue."

"I recently rented the dvd Hacking Democracy. Wow, congratulations for showing us what we really already knew/know is real truth about the election process in this country. I knew something was funny...everyone should be able to see it and know the truth."

"I bought a projector to show it [Hacking Democracy] at my condo association, etc..."

"I just finished watching the stirring and unsettling documentary
Hacking Democracy. Thank you for everything you are doing to protect
the true power of our Democracy, our votes. Though I have heard bits and pieces of information regarding voting irregularity, my interest in this subject peaked after I witnessed people being intimidated inside the Lemon City (Miami, FL) Library, where my voting district was. ...I want to know, what I can do to help further your efforts? "

"Just finished watching Hacking Democracy. EVERY HIGH SCHOOL, COLLEGE should air Hacking Democracy in Govt, Political Science & Computer Science classes nationwide. "

These comments are exactly the kind of reason Hacking Democracy was nominated for an Emmy. It is excellent research by Russell Michaels, who, together with Simon Ardizzone, has an exceptional ability to tell a story in a way that motivates people. Much of the mission of Black Box Voting revolves around doing original research and educating the public. This film, a cooperative effort among many, has already educated literally millions of people in a way that inspires them to take action.

Best of luck to us all in this endeavor.

Bev Harris

by Bev Harris (80 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 22 comments) on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 10:15:44 PM