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April 20, 2008 at 14:20:17
Election Fraud in Pennsylvania? by Michael Collins Page 1 of 3 page(s) |
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Election Fraud in Pennsylvania? Michael Collins The Pennsylvania primary could lock up the Democratic nomination process once and for all. The campaign that Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean asked to be finished by July 1 could be over this Tuesday. Regardless of your candidate or party, you're probably like the vast majority of citizens who insist on fair elections that are open to the public for examination.
(Image Source - Diebold Variations)
They've got a Secret
"Scoop" Independent News
Washington, D.C.
Citizens want to know that the candidate taking office is the same candidate who won a majority or a plurality of the votes. A 2006 Zogby poll of 1018 registered voters nationwide found that 92% believed that they, as citizens, have the right to witness vote counting for the election of their paid public servants.
That will not be the case in Pennsylvania any more than it was the case in Florida, Ohio, California, South Carolina, and most other primary states. Almost all states bar any real inspection of vote counting, the process that determines the election result. Even if they did allow you to watch the count, all you would see is a whirring third-rate computer system run by a private company that won't allow anyone to take a comprehensive look inside.
Post election audits are either absent or randomly selected by the people who run the election. Recounts require an exceptionally close election, less than a 1% difference typically. And citizen recounts after the election, where paper records exist, are barred by law in Florida and Virginia and barred almost everywhere else by bureaucratic fiat.
Even if you got to examine each and every ballot, the chain of custody of those paper records will likely be compromised at several key points. Ballots collected by unaccountable individuals, driven around in the trunks of cars, unsupervised, plus other election board customs, mean you can't track the chain of custody of ballots from collection at precincts to delivery at counting locations. Post-election storage oftentimes reflects little concern for real security. If you can't track the chain of custody, you can't know if the ballots recounted or examined are the original voted ballots, if ballots have been replaced, altered, etc.
We elect people who pass laws that are enforced by bureaucrats who then tell us to take a hike when we want to closely examine an election.
"The results are what we say they are," say the keepers of the vote, our so-called public servants. "Move along, there's nothing to see here" is the prevailing attitude toward inquiring citizens.
Potential Election Fraud in Pennsylvania
When you build any system that conducts "mission critical business," like electing a president, you need to create enough safeguards to make sure that the process is secure. How secure is the voting process in Pennsylvania?
Almost 90 percent of Pennsylvanians will vote using touch screen voting machines that have no paper record of votes cast. Once you touch the screen, the machine can count your vote any way it's programmed. It can even give you a receipt indicating you voted for Smith and count your vote for Jones. These touch screens total their own votes, invisibly and without any outside checks. We can't watch and even if we could, we wouldn't know what to look for. Our election boards routinely sign contracts agreeing that the computer programs that count our votes are the trade secrets of the e-voting machine companies, no peeking. The companies even "refuse to promise that their products will work."
Our election process is not a serious one when you examine it to any degree but it is very popular with the politicians and the election boards that they populate.
Computer scientists at Princeton University and others have been able to hack touch screen voting machines successfully on repeated occasions. A candidate in Florida's 13th congressional district lost at least 14,000 votes and a seat in Congress in 2006 in a county with touch screens only, while surrounding counties had nothing like these vote losses. Congress promised a vigorous investigation but never delivered.
The situation in Pennsylvania is so bad that Common Cause rated the state at "high" risk for election problems in the 2008 election. In addition, a citizens' group in Pennsylvania is suing the state to decertify touch screen voting machines because they fail to provide an accurate vote count. The case was allowed by the Pennsylvania courts and is proceeding through the system.
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
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| 11 comments |
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If voting could change things - they'd make it illegal
Massive Election Fraud is the most obvious and blatant of many crimes, that has been completely ignored by a M$M, that is also obviously as bought-off as State Attorney Generals, judges, law-makers and just about our whole damn government and law enforcement agencies, in their effort to keep real power from The People. It's simply mind-boggling that after election 2000 there wouldn't have been a Manhattan Project effort to get a uniform, verifiable, publicly witnessed election system. Yet just this past week Republicans blocked an effort to get paper-trail machines to replace e-voting ones in time for election because of cost - $685-million - about 4 days in Iraq. They haven't even addressed little things that would help, such as moving voting day to a Saturday, or trashing an antiquated Electoral College. Yeah, it's screwed-up, but, for now it's all we got. by Mr M (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 66 diaries, 2845 comments [654 recommended, 27 rejected]) on Monday, Apr 21, 2008 at 1:06:25 AM  (0+)
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Reply: MrM, you're right on target.
The failure to fix this in a way that's completely open to examination and verification tells us one thing: they don't want it fixed. They trot out all these technical solutions that further distance elections from the people and put in place competing experts. It has to be obscure and distant. Without that, they'd have no control. If you look at Clinton's election bill from the last Congress, you'll see a real nightmare of complexity. Don't know where Obama comes down on that and I really don't care for now. But whoever is elected has about one chance to prove their sincerity - fix the system with a very low tech solution, total citizen control, and safeguards. Failing to do that will make them just another politician who wants honesty but likes that "hedge fund" feeling they get form the "levers" of power. Your point on a Saturday election day is the exemplar. How hard is this? Or how hard is it to declare election days a national holiday, state holiday. I'm sure they'd go for Saturday with that choice. Simple, simple, simple ... and what have they done about it. This foot dragging proves the entire case. Nice point. by Michael Collins (130 articles, 20 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 485 comments [42 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Apr 21, 2008 at 1:15:38 AM (0+)
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Reply: Actually $685 Million is 2 Days in Iraq
About the only thing to do now is have as many poll-watchers and monitors tracking and taking exit poll results as we can get and turn-out in record numbers. If there is obvious election fraud occurring (there always is) maybe, just maybe something can be done. My worst fear is that another "false flag" attack occurs before election and/or we attack Iran. If that happens, all bets are off and take to the hills, for we'll slide into total fascism faster than we could form a resistance - if there would even be any. And this seems increasingly plausible, as more and more crimes keep coming to light. Last thing these cretins will let happen is for them to be held accountable and have power ripped from their grasp. The fact that so far there has been little noticeable out-cry from exposure of the Torture Meetings and bush can basically give his version of cheney's "So?" is very telling in the way that if an administration can blatantly flaunt long-held established laws on one of the most heinous crimes a government can commit and not just get away with it, but rub our faces in it, tells us, and them, they can do anything they want with impunity, including stealing another election or canceling elections altogether. Everything is in place for a complete take-over, directives have been signed, camps have been built, law-enforcement has been conditioned. All that is needed is for bush to declare a "state of emergency" and it's all over. Already they're using the excuse of this phony "War on Terror" to shred what basic rights we have and becoming more and more excessive in doing so. This week a massive multi-state exercise was pulled-off where road-blocks pulled over thousands of people for no reason at all other than to intimidate and arrest people for any infraction found. (In a btw, police are now taking DNA from anyone they stop, no matter if arrested or not) Citizens in many cities where stopped, searched and held for "back-ground" checks. Use of military as police, a direct violation of posse comitatus is now common place, there are still military police patrolling streets of New Orleans. If we have any chance at all it's a slim one. This summer will be very telling. by Mr M (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 66 diaries, 2845 comments [654 recommended, 27 rejected]) on Monday, Apr 21, 2008 at 8:50:37 AM (0+)
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Reply: Awful scenario
"This week a massive multi-state exercise was pulled-off where road-blocks pulled over thousands of people for no reason at all other than to intimidate and arrest people for any infraction found. (In a btw, police are now taking DNA from anyone they stop, no matter if arrested or not) Citizens in many cities where stopped, searched and held for "back-ground" checks. Use of military as police, a direct violation of posse comitatus is now common place, there are still military police patrolling streets of New Orleans." MrM you have thoroughly scared me! DNA? Good Grief! Where did you hear this? In what states was this exercise conducted? It's sounding like a real life "Jericho" to me. by Hope Hofmann (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 17 comments) on Monday, Apr 21, 2008 at 6:37:51 PM (0+)
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i'm gonna vote in 08
not sure yet for who, but I don't see how the American People can be expected to have confidence in an electoral process conducted on notoriously unreliable, easily hackable evoting/counting machines controlled by secretive and unaccountable private interests- especially when some of the major players have given clear indications of conflict of interest and corruption. BradBlog.com, BlackBoxVoting.org and ElectionDefenseAlliance.org all seem to be doing good work towards making the system honest, transparent and accountable, so the public can have high confidence the elections accurately reflect the People's will. Who doesn't want that? Who thinks confidence and transparency are good, even primary things to have in an election? The proven best way to do this is to have paper ballots, publicly accountable chain of ballot custody from printer to election night to recount, which hopefully can be avoided by hand-counting all the ballots in the local precincts on election night, with results immediately public and open for all to see and report. Canada runs their elections like this- and they have a universal health care system. Also, don't miss: NUMBER ONE MOST IMPORTANT NEWS-RANKING/SOCIAL BUZZ SITE: DIGG.com HERE!!! Fourteen Points of Agreement: World Trade Center Destruction Article by Dr. Steven E. Jones, Dr. Frank M. Legge, Kevin R. Ryan, Anthony F. Szamboti, and James R. Gourley: Fourteen Points of Agreement with Official Government Reports on the World Trade Center Destruction by Better World Order (4 articles, 568 quicklinks, 39 diaries, 1111 comments [56 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Monday, Apr 21, 2008 at 1:09:36 AM (0+)
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Reply: and your efforts are appreciated, too Mr. Colllins!
Thanx for posting! by Better World Order (4 articles, 568 quicklinks, 39 diaries, 1111 comments [56 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Monday, Apr 21, 2008 at 1:12:00 AM (0+)
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Reply: Thank you!!! . your links remind me
that I need to check that out more and also of this ... one of my more enjoyable efforts, challenging a bill ('violent radicalization on the net') passed 402 to 6;) Asked, why did you six vote against the rest of the House, Dennis Kucinich said "Because we read the bill." By an overwhelming majority... Congress Brings You Thought Control on the Internet Dec. 19, 2008 by Michael Collins (130 articles, 20 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 485 comments [42 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008 at 1:22:39 AM (0+)
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Reply: keep spreading that link
to Friends of the Article V Convention. imo, it's our only way out of this mess. by john de herrera (39 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 165 comments) on Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008 at 9:56:36 PM (0+)
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Reply: keep spreading that link
to Friends of the Article V Convention. imo, it's our only way out of this mess. by john de herrera (39 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 165 comments) on Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008 at 9:56:36 PM (0+)
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Voting Fraud
Thee are a ton of ways to steal an election. With computers it is an impossible situation. They can be manipulated. The companies who develop the equipment and the software do not want their code available for inspection for more than the reason most people here think of. There are competitive reasons as well as if the code were available to hackers it would be hacked. So the companies that develop the hardware and software can't win. If they are secretive then they are trying to rig the election and if they let everyone see the code then anyone can rig the election. Using paper ballots are the most secure way of voting. But there are problems with that too. Paper ballots can be manipulated as well. Counters can miscount on purpose or by mistake. Voters who cast ballots may not be eligible to vote. Voters can vote many times. The dead are voting. Felons are voting. Illegals are voting. I think that paper ballots with close oversight of the casting and counting of those ballots and voter ID cards are the way to go. Something has to be done. Both Republicans and Democrats can reprogram or hack computers. It is hilarious that liberals seem to get their panties twisted up over voter fraud (because they seem to think that only Republicans steal elections) but are against voter ID cards. More elections have been stolen by ineligible people voting than by rigged computers. by Mad Jayhawk (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 652 comments [56 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008 at 1:23:34 PM (0+)
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you would be interested to know about this group:
if we had an article v convention folks like yourself could be delegates and propose an amendment that standardizes The Vote. by john de herrera (39 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 165 comments) on Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008 at 9:54:45 PM (0+)
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