After internet-based
reporting broke the story of the stolen 2004 election, thousands of
election-protection activists turned out to monitor the 2008 vote
count. Among other things, careful exit polling was done to provide a
close reality check on official vote counts. Poll monitors interviewed
voters and carefully scrutinized voting procedures and how ballots were
handled and counted.
Often overlooked are voter registration manipulations, which were used in Ohio and elsewhere to strip hundreds of thousands of voters of their right to cast a ballot. In Ohio alone, more than 300,000 legally registered voters were electronically removed from the voter rolls between the 2000 and 2004 elections. Most were in heavily Democratic urban areas.
In 2008, the Free Press found that the number of purged Ohio voters jumped to more than a million.
Thus the fact that the electoral apparatus in Massachusetts is apparently in the hands of Democrats may not matter. Private vendors like LHS and Diebold have the actual control over the final numbers.
In
Massachusetts, a recount only occurs if the final results are less than
half of one percent, and as election reform activist John Bonifaz
points out, Massachusetts does not require random audits of the
computerized vote counting machines to compare the computer results to
the optical scan ballots marked by the voters. Bonifaz notes that in
the Al Franken-Norm Coleman Minnesota Senate race in 2008, "everything
was ultimately hand-counted." The problem in Massachusetts hinges on
whether the race is close enough to trigger a recount, which candidates
can peition for within thirty days.
Exit polls remain the gold standard for election integrity throughout the democratic world. But in Ohio in 2004, the exit polls indicated that the election results were reversed and that Kerry actually won. Jonathan Simon, election integrity expert, points out that the exit polls in 2008 in Minnesota ""had Franken winning by 10%! This is a huge disparity, not remotely reflected by the recount."
"Could the exit poll have been that badly off? Or could a large number of ballots, 200,000 or so, been swapped out before the recount? Here is where the chain or custody, or lack thereof, comes in. These ballots were not exactly under heavy surveillance during the month-long period between election day and recount completion," Simon said.
What will matter in Massachusetts is how thoroughly election-protection advocates are able to scrutinize voter certification, access and ballot security. Billions of dollars---and much more---are riding on the outcome of this election. Those who believe it cannot or would not be stolen are simply in denial.
Given the Democratic party's astonishing lack of leadership on so many issues, it is entirely possible that Scott Brown could legitimately beat Martha Coakley in this election.
But it is also possible that the outcome could be manipulated by the companies in control of the registration rolls and vote counts. It will be up to citizen election protection activists to make sure that doesn't happen yet again.
Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman broke many of the major stories surrounding the theft of the 2004 election, and have co-authored four books on election protection, which appear at www.freepress.org, where they are publisher and senior editor, and where this story first appeared.
Often overlooked are voter registration manipulations, which were used in Ohio and elsewhere to strip hundreds of thousands of voters of their right to cast a ballot. In Ohio alone, more than 300,000 legally registered voters were electronically removed from the voter rolls between the 2000 and 2004 elections. Most were in heavily Democratic urban areas.
In 2008, the Free Press found that the number of purged Ohio voters jumped to more than a million.
Thus the fact that the electoral apparatus in Massachusetts is apparently in the hands of Democrats may not matter. Private vendors like LHS and Diebold have the actual control over the final numbers.
Exit polls remain the gold standard for election integrity throughout the democratic world. But in Ohio in 2004, the exit polls indicated that the election results were reversed and that Kerry actually won. Jonathan Simon, election integrity expert, points out that the exit polls in 2008 in Minnesota ""had Franken winning by 10%! This is a huge disparity, not remotely reflected by the recount."
"Could the exit poll have been that badly off? Or could a large number of ballots, 200,000 or so, been swapped out before the recount? Here is where the chain or custody, or lack thereof, comes in. These ballots were not exactly under heavy surveillance during the month-long period between election day and recount completion," Simon said.
What will matter in Massachusetts is how thoroughly election-protection advocates are able to scrutinize voter certification, access and ballot security. Billions of dollars---and much more---are riding on the outcome of this election. Those who believe it cannot or would not be stolen are simply in denial.
Given the Democratic party's astonishing lack of leadership on so many issues, it is entirely possible that Scott Brown could legitimately beat Martha Coakley in this election.
But it is also possible that the outcome could be manipulated by the companies in control of the registration rolls and vote counts. It will be up to citizen election protection activists to make sure that doesn't happen yet again.
Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman broke many of the major stories surrounding the theft of the 2004 election, and have co-authored four books on election protection, which appear at www.freepress.org, where they are publisher and senior editor, and where this story first appeared.
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