The Most Important Issue of All
Reported by Eleanor - August 11, 2004 -
Newshound Editorial:
The most important issue in this or any election is the integrity of our votes. Almost four years after the most questionable election in American history, satisfactory answers to the questions about how, or even if, our votes are counted have become more obscure - not less. And rarely is this critical issue covered in the media.
"How They Could Steal the Election This Time," by Ronnie Dugger is an excellent article that describes this issue in detail. An excerpt below states:
"On November 2 millions of Americans will cast their votes for President in computerized voting systems that can be rigged by corporate or local-election insiders. Some 98 million citizens, five out of every six of the roughly 115 million who will go to the polls, will consign their votes into computers that unidentified computer programmers, working in the main for four private corporations and the officials of 10,500 election jurisdictions, could program to invisibly falsify the outcomes. See How They Could Steal the Election This Time for more details."
Comment: After reading this and other thorough analyses of this issue, I have come to the conclusion that if the non-computer vote count across the nation is different from the vote on the paperless machines among comparable voters, we could have a huge revolt in our country after the election. Not the polite "get over it" acquiescence we saw after the voting debacle of the election of 2000.
I also believe that in the absence of any efficient way to verify the accuracy of polling data, especially with the vastly differing results that we are seeing now, as well as the mysterious disappearance of companies that do exit interviews at voting locations, we risk a massive meltdown of the very foundations of our democracy - our right to vote and to have our votes honestly counted.
At least with a paper trail, the paper vote can be compared to the machine vote, not just for the purpose of a recount, but before the vote is certified.The only reasons for anyone to object to a paper trail that can be compared to a machine count are: a)ignorance of computers b)dishonesty c)voter fraud.
Why after four years don't we have a $300 printer integrated into computer voting machines and a process that compares the paper count to the machine count before certification of the vote? The intent of the machine vote was to simplify voting for the voter, and not to simplify the stealing of votes. Let's face it folks, no matter how painful, this paperless computer voting issue is about stealing the American election. Why would anyone with the authority to make a difference object to the ability to count, recount, compare and verify the vote, if not fraud? And why is this most important issue rarely discussed in the popular media so that it is visible to average Americans who don't follow politics?
