Let’s smoke the vote manipulator(s) out of their caves (Essay)

America:

Many information technology professionals know in their heart they could design an election system that could be trusted. We all wonder why we have a system this far out of kilter with expectation. What I see is that Americans are just now waking up to the realization that even if the 2004 election was not rigged, it certainly could have been. Three partisan-owned election companies control how your vote is counted. If you think this is ok and we should trust the machines and their felonious programmers (yes, they have criminal records) because ATMs work fine then you are NOT MY READER, go away.

Even Bush supporters have a sneaking suspicion, their candidate did a wee bit better in Florida than reasonably expected. We are all tired of partisan officials making election decisions — before and after elections — such as Blackwell and Harris. It is as clear as you can stomach: 8-13 hour waits to vote outside Columbus, Ohio; unexplained vote counting lockdown in red Warren County, Ohio during the heated contest; bizarre exit polling all favoring one candidate; tossed out poll tapes in Volusia County, Florida; electronic method of voting favoring one candidate; unexplained low voter turnout in the face of record voter registration in battleground counties; Palm Beach County not producing records per FOIA. Some people want to shop, some people want answers.

It is no longer embarrassing to discuss vote fraud in public. The more educated (it’s ok to have graduated) you are, the more you realize that our systems could be tampered with at several junctures. To think otherwise is a conspiracy of utter disregard for America:

1) How would anyone know if a modem such as a wireless OPTECH III-P Eagle and regional accumulation with the Smart Pack Receiving System was not installed in a voting machine? My laptop has a wireless modem and no one can see it.
2) What about pre-programming on these systems with programs potentially cued by time to pass basline testing.
3) No vote machine or central tabulator has ever cleared even the most rudimentary security and penetration tests. This is according to independent testers own records.
4) No paper-trail on some machines, particularly new machines.
5) How easy the central tabulator can be changed without a password.

Tell me again why we should trust these systems? If you think all the checks and balances are in place you would incorrect. Couldn’t get away with it on a massive scale? Think again. A radical pro-lifer or Halliburton employee would never try to pull this off? They would get caught, right? Not without a paper-trail.

Just like George W. Bush used 9/11 to bait and switch the congress into a war to win the second largest oil reserve in the world, Help America Vote (HAVA) — in response to the Florida punch card debacle — was used to stack the deck with more and more unverifiable touch screen voting machines. Voter suppression and tabulator hacking are other tools in their arsenal.

The manipulators count on the fact that Americans will be too bored to hear about voting irregularities, exit polls, and go back to their viagra and cialis. They think the "sour grapes" argument will trump distrust causing non-resonance. As two recent contests (Wheel of VOTER I and II) have determined: a) paper-trail voting is superior to non-paper trail voting, and b) you no longer need to be smart to hack these machine, you just need a cheat sheet. We also now realize that Canada and other countries handle voting MUCH BETTER than we do. Canada also offers the perception of fairness to which America has no answer. Our system wreaks of Democratic UNINVOLVEMENT. Voting is not rocket science, but Republican Diebold and E.S.S. have made it as indecipherable and complex as possible.

In 1988 Ronnie Dugger wrote the definitive article in the New York Times on computerized vote fixing:
http://www.newsgarden.org/columns/dugger.shtml
ANNALS OF DEMOCRACY COUNTING VOTES

Here is a post election report from Canada’s June 2004 election:

Report of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada on the 38th general election held on June 28, 2004
http://www.elections.ca/gen/rep/re2/stat2004_e.pdf
Page 85 - 97

Preliminary results on Canadian PAPER-BALLOT election day

Preliminary election results were posted on the Web site starting from 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time on June 28, 2004. This was when the last polling stations closed in British Columbia and Yukon, at 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time. The Web site showed live results, with a choice of five views:
•results for individual electoral districts (by province or territory, electoral district name or postal code)
•results grouped by major urban centres
•results by province or territory
•national results by party
•results for nine party leaders
Up to four sets of results could be displayed at one time. Each view tracked the number of valid votes and percentage of votes by party, the number of polls reporting and the total number of polls, and the number of registered electors (excluding those who registered on election day) and the preliminary voter turnout.

Look, no riots.

http://www.electionworld.org/canada.htm

http://canadaonline.about.com/od/elections/

http://papervotecanada.blogspot.com/

Optical Scan Voting System from Global Election Systems Inc
http://www.newswithviews.com/Devvy/kidd72.htm
"Modem communications and results transfer capability from the precinct with the OPTECH III-P Eagle and regional accumulation with the Smart Pack Receiving System." This alarmed O’Halloran because "the presence of an internal (hidden) modem which could allow outside access to the computer without anyone’s knowledge."

In conclusion, the success of the NFL, casinos, and horseracing all are built on the perception of a level playing field, fair officiating, untainted players. Our voting system will embrace these fundamentals as the country goes down the toilet — when the cost of rigged voting becomes apparent. The deficit, illegal wars, unemployment, the draft should help in this regard. Why not make the system fair sooner (2006) than later? How did Max Cleland lose in 2002 in Georgia? Let’s not let that happen again. Please, be paranoid. You would be a caring American and you would be my reader. Welcome to reality. People do lie, cheat, and steal. Other people try to stop it. You are with me or against me. Let’s smoke the vote manipulator(s) out of their caves. Exit polling lives. Paper balloting saves. Printers in the Precincts 2006.

Robin Baneth, M.S., M.A.
rbaneth@mindspring.com

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