Letters to the Editor
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What Diebold says
Walden O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold Inc. told Republicans in a fund-raising letter
he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."
Diebold spokesman David Bear has denied that...security concerns are notable.
"[Our critics are] throwing out a 'what if' that's premised on a basis of an evil, nefarious person breaking the law," Bear told Newsweek after the March Emery County study. "For there to be a problem here," he further explained to the New York Times, "you're basically assuming a premise where you have some evil and nefarious election officials who would sneak in and introduce a piece of software … I don't believe these evil elections people exist."
Does two plus two equal four?
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Distrust Is a Virtue
With dozens of spam and viral emails depositing themselves in my mailbox daily, not to mention the general and demonstrable untrustworthiness of the voting machine companies, I am astonished that so many people still believe that hacking something as important as an election would be unthinkable. I hope that repeated studies by distinguished institutions will finally permeate the gullibility and passivity of the voting public that they finally demand accountability and secure voting. We put locks on our doors, passwords on our computers, PIN numbers on our bank accounts and a guarding eye on our children for a reason. No one would leave an ATM without a printed receipt. Our Constitution is based on distrust of our fellow men, particularly when money and power are at stake. And yet we show so little vigilence toward the most precious thing we have: our freedom. Go figure.
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Could somebody explain to me the problem with...
hand-counting every ballot?
And further, what's wrong with paper ballots that are easy to read and filled out by hand using a black pen or pencil? I admit i'm no expert, but my understanding is how that's done throughout Canada, and I can't recall any cases of such egregious and possibly fraudulent election results such as Florida 2000 which resulted in the appointment of Dubya, that fucking idiot.
I haven't heard of any good reason why computerized, no paper balloting, or hanging chad butterfly ballots are in any way better than the systems that work over most of the world and have worked for quite some while.
Timmy
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I don't believe these evil elections people exist
Courtesy Pete Seeger:
I learned Washington never told a lie,
I learned that soldiers seldom die,
I learned that policemen are my friends,
I learned that justice never ends.
I learned that wars are not so bad,
I learned of the great ones we have had.
I learned our government must be strong,
It's always right and never wrong.
Our leaders are the finest men,
And so we elect them again and again.
And that's what I learned in school today, that's what I learned in school.
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Yipeeeeeeee!
A Manjoo-less article about electronic voting issues, in Salon.com. Lordy, lordy-- this even better than all that free stuff! Thank you Brad Friedman, and thank you Salon!
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Oh, look at the bright side
We don't have to dip our index fingers in purple ink.
Yet.
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Interesting...
...that Salon runs this along with its Manjoo Farhad articles that say there's no evidence of theft. The point is, there's no evidence that Bush won. The major point to get out of this article is that if they want to steal it, there won't be evidence (except maybe for strange exit polls!).
Maybe I can't prove more legal voters turned out for Kerry, but that no one - Manjoo included - can prove the opposite. Shouldn't the burden of proof be on the system, not the "loser?"
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How Many Have Been Rigged So Far?
You know, I wonder how many races have been rigged over the last few years due to tampering with these machines. There have been several head scratching losses for Dems over the last few years where the polling data said one thing, but the results another. As many have said in the past, America has become a topsy turvy world where right is wrong, black is white, civil rights should not exist and votes do not need to be counted (that is no longer necessary).
So many have a hard time believing and contemplating the fact that shenanigans like this could happen in America. They seem to feel that it is better to live a safe comfy life and deal with the day to day issues and problems that life holds for them than to deal with the fact that their "elected" officials, who literllay have the power of life and death over their lives, obtained their positions feloniously. So easy are they to believe people like Farhad Manjoo and the "mainstream media", who write articles that amount to calling those who want to see all votes counted and the people of the United States right to vote protected, tin foil hatters and conspiracy theorists.
I am so glad that this study was performed. Unfortunately, it may have had to take a study done at a university with the reputation of Princeton's to get the word out and for "mainstream" Americans to listen. I wonder if the results of the Princeton study will just be relegated to page A40 in a small paragraph where no one will see it. Will this study affect anything in time for the November 2006 elections? I would like to believe so, but highly doubt it. There is way too much at stake in the upcoming elections, so those Diebold machines and others like them will stay put and ensure more Republican wins in areas where there are close races. Hmmm . . . I wonder if the real cause of Max Cleland's loss was not really attributed to voter fraud, instead of just a smear campaign . . .
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nefarious
'"For there to be a problem here," he further explained to the New York Times, "you're basically assuming a premise where you have some evil and nefarious election officials who would sneak in and introduce a piece of software … I don't believe these evil elections people exist."'
I don't believe people this stupid exist, but my faith is tested daily. I love this line of reasoning - I wonder if they use it in their ATM division to scoff at the clients - "You suspicious banks. We don't believe these evil bank robber masterminds exist. PINs? PINs are for wusses."
And speaking of Diebold's ATM business: It's not like they can't make secure machines. They just choose not to. Wonder why. Hmm, maybe "stupid" is just their planned ass-covering fallback position.