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Author Topic: Don't get Diebolded  (Read 4233 times)
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Assamite
 
Hans Grosse
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« on: 2004-09-25, 22:20 »

Fox news, of all the mainstream news outlets in this country, has decided to run a story on Diebold. Specifically, how so frickin' easy it is to hack into the machines that even a monkey could do it. And a monkey DID do it.

Your vote.

Our future.

A MONKEY.

Even more alarming is the fact that states all across the country are defeating efforts to get at least voter-verifiable paper trails with these machines. You'd think vote security is top priority, especially considering the 2000 fiasco, but noooo. "It's safe! Trust us!" And let's not forget the partisan intentions of the Diebold execs in Ohio.

Expect an explosion from the rest of the mainstream media, now that Fox has covered it. Or not.

I have reason to believe got Diebolded back in the primaries. I wanted to request an absentee ballot before, but was denied. I tried to get MDTrueVote (The organization that's trying to push for voter accountability in MD) to convince the monitor to give me a paper ballot, to no avail. The same "trust us, it's safe" crap is spewed. So I was forced to use the electronic voting machine. God FORBID if my vote ended up with Lieberman (who lost anyway). Kerry wins the MD primary, despite widespread support for Dean. Kucinich gets utterly crushed.

I'm getting into kook zone here, but I think the Kerry campaign took advantage of these machines. Add the Rovian "win at all costs" ideology and partisan Diebold execs, and we have a totally manufactured mandate. The death of democracy as we know it. To avoid this, I STRONGLY urge all Americans here to vote by absentee. Go out of town on Election Day to do something. Just don't fall to electronic voting.

"It's not who votes that counts, it's who counts the vote that counts." - Josef Stalin
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Phoenix
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« Reply #1 on: 2004-09-26, 00:11 »

Well, there's a problem with that too.  How do you guarantee the absentee ballots will be counted?  Speaking of the 2,000 election, there was a huge flap about the Military absentee ballots that were supposedly deliberately delayed by orders from Sandy Berger to ensure that the mostly pro-Bush military votes that would have flooded into Florida missed the deadline and were not counted.  So you see, there's more than one way to try to "steal" an election.  Of course, this story wasn't widely run by the major news outlets, but that's another story entirely.

The problem is, nobody can guarantee anything.  Absentee ballots can be lost, either accidentally or deliberately, just as easily as electronic ballots can be tampered with.  Then you get into the issue of election districts.  Ever see how election districts are drawn?  No matter which party is in power the sole concern is keeping the incumbents in power, so you end up with election districts that look like topographical maps.  Government for government's sake.  Remember the old aristocracies from Europe?  Remember Feudalism, and the Divine Right of kings?  Replace "divine right" with "natural right" and it's no different.  Once in power, people like to stay there and do so by whatever means they can.

I'm afraid I don't see any way out of this little mess, except following the path that it's already been set upon to its inevitable conclusion.  Hopefully people's voices will be heard, and their votes will still count for something.  I would encourage people to not let the corruption within the system prevent them from speaking out and casting their ballots.  If you do nothing, if you despair and just give up, then you've given power over to these people willingly, and given up your rights completely.  If you exercise your rights, and it is ignored or subverted by corrupt people, then the blame lays squarely on them; You've done your part.

It is far better to shout and not be heard, than to say nothing at all when there was still a chance of someone listening.
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Makou
 

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« Reply #2 on: 2004-09-26, 02:03 »

I couldn't have said it better myself, Phoenix. Well put.
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« Reply #3 on: 2004-09-26, 03:48 »

I am now officially afraid of monkeys. Slipgate - WTF
Con, stay the hell away from me. Slipgate - Wink
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Woodsman
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« Reply #4 on: 2004-09-26, 06:02 »

the 9th circuit court of appeals tried to delay the california recall election untill electronic voting devices could be implemented ( of course they were just doing it to save gray davis) but they failed. I voted with a punch card  ballet and had no proublems and no confusion. I think this is a classic example of if it aint broke dont fix it.
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