Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 17 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
General News   

"Trust Me Elections" - computerized Voting in Bullitt Co. Kentucky

By       (Page 1 of 2 pages)   2 comments
Message Bev Harris
Become a Fan
  (5 fans)

From Bev Harris and Black Box Voting, the MOONSHINE ELECTION SERIES - Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpzahSVY_GM. The report, plus photos etc., in pdf format: http://www.blackboxvoting.org/moonshine1.pdf (372 KB).

Full details, sources, footnotes and the interview with the elusive Joe Bolton are also at this web site, which has a discussion area (must log in to discuss; anyone can read):
http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/54541.html.

Bev writes:


THE POLITICAL TERRAIN

A surprisingly large percentage of our national vote comes from rural locations, even in states like New York and California. In Kentucky, 109 out of 120 counties are rural; overall, 60 percent of Kentucky's votes come in from rural election administrations.

In swing states, small rural voting pockets can tip the state's electoral votes. The moonshine elections territories have been known to influence presidential races -- in 1960, the moonshine sections of West Virginia helped deliver John F. Kennedy's nomination. According to witnesses, the total paid to buy the election was over two million dollars.

In close elections, a single rural location can flip control of the U.S. Congress.

The public pocketbook and the public safety is at stake -- several of these jurisdictions have an unfortunate history of electing people who dip into the public till, along with law enforcement officers who commit felonies.In Kentucky, one newspaper calls this the "colorful political landscape."

Kentucky is a swing state where 87 out of 120 counties had a majority of Democratic registered voters, yet 106 out of 120 counties voted for Bush in 2000; 108 voted for Bush in 2004. It wasn't low turnout -- in fact, turnout has been going up. It was Kentucky politics: Registered Democrats went into the voting booth, Republican votes came out. (Details at links above)

In Nov. 2007, Kentucky voters will get to choose between two pearls for governor: Steve Beshear (D), who wants to change the state constitution to allow gambling, or Ernie Fletcher (R), who has been embroiled in a criminal controversy involving attempts to build a patronage army.

Perhaps the most vulnerable races of all in Kentucky are the gravy train positions: Sheriff, Judge Executive (similar to a supercommissioner or being chief of the county supervisors), and the county clerk position. Even the jailer position has good opportunities for personal remuneration if one is unscrupulous, due to poorly controlled "jail canteen accounts."

Kentucky elections are mostly rural affairs, with the exception of Louisville, Covington, Lexington and Frankfort.

THE HUNT FOR JOE BOLTON

We discovered that a man named Joe Bolton has inside access to nearly 200,000 votes, most of them in the most troubled areas, locations that have a history of vote fraud, family-run government, drug-dealing sheriffs, what-have you.

I don't want to give you the wrong impression. Whether or not you choose to trust Joe -- when we eventually located him we found him to be friendly and forthcoming, but then again, what does that mean? -- at any rate, procedures that give one guy access to voting machines that count nearly 200,000 votes with no oversight whatsoever do not secure and protect voting rights.

Computerized election systems are based on the strange assumption that voters should trust the government and its contractors to count votes in secret. As voting rights attorney Paul Lehto likes to point out, you can no more secure a computer against an insider than you can secure your laptop from yourself.

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

Bev Harris Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Bev Harris is executive director of Black Box Voting, Inc. an advocacy group committed to restoring citizen oversight to elections.
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Black Box Voting: WISCONSIN VOTE SPREAD 29,207? 7,500? Or 6,744?

2008 election results to be routed to private middlemen in Illinois, Colorado & Kentucky

Dear Maine GOP: 1+1+1 does not = 4. Official results are wrong

Racial Profiling on Tennessee Voter Reg Cards

Bev Harris: Actual Accenture Voter List Software Discovered and Downloadable to the Public

BIPARTISANLY YOURS: COAKLEY WON THE HAND COUNTS

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend