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Voter Fraud Alert [VIDEO]

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 8:07 AM on November 1, 2006.


Touchscreen Trouble in Texas
Vote machines Texas

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This is a dicey subject. Ignore it at your peril, but obsess and you erode confidence and the thing that makes a nation great: the belief that an individual can make a difference.

So watch the local Texas clip to the right, one of many to come no doubt, but read all the way to the bottom of this post. In this local Texas news clip, though the report doesn't dig that far, ES&S voting machines seem to lean right, even when voters don't. It's sort of astonishing that the clip insinuates that all "mistakes" favor Republicans, yet they quote an expert innocuously saying that he believes it's a programming error. But see, he can't know, because nobody's watching. See how that's the problem?

ES&S, a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ES%26S">formerly CEO-ed by Republican Chuck Hagel (whose votes they also counted, hmmm) and with a list of problems a mile long, owns nearly half the voting machines in the nation. Here's the San Antonio Express-News:

There have been, however, significant problems with customer service in the past. These include failure to deliver balloting software on time and a lack of technical assistance during elections. At one point, Secretary of State Roger Williams had to deliver a pungent message to ES&S President and CEO Aldo J. Tesi. In a letter to Tesi in April, Williams decried the company's poor track record and threatened to decertify the company's equipment, withhold grant funding, or seek a legal remedy "if that is what it takes to get your attention."

But for the love of God, don't start down the slippery slope that ends with you on a porch with a shotgun across your lap, respirator strapped to your face, muttering something about the radio waves.

Join one of the numerous efforts to ensure that the vote is honest and legit, and read How to Stop the November Elections from Being Stolen.

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Tagged as: election06, voter fraud

Evan Derkacz is an AlterNet editor. He writes and edits PEEK, the blog of blogs.


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This is why Rove is so smug
Posted by: lb on Nov 1, 2006 8:37 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The fix is in. No matter what the polls say, the Republicans will hold on to their majority

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: This is why Rove is so smug Posted by: trampoline
» RE: This is why Rove is so smug Posted by: carcinoid112
CRAZY MACHINES
Posted by: albrechtkrausse on Nov 1, 2006 9:32 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Ignoring the fact that the results can/may be manipulated the question is why have these machines at all. They are expensive, they don't work easily, and they are slower to use then a friggin' pencil and paper! Its a fix by BOTH parties because they want to eliminate any 3rd parties from ever gaining even a minority in government. For example, in order to vote for a write-in canidate in Texas you need to ENTER THE LETTERS manually into this computer using a wheeled-device. It must be spelt EXACTLY to count and takes forever. I hate those machines.

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» RE: CRAZY MACHINES Posted by: carcinoid112
» RE: CRAZY MACHINES Posted by: willymack
No, see
Posted by: PEEK on Nov 1, 2006 9:54 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If you give up and say we're fucked, we are fucked. And what's more: we deserve it.

Fight for it or hide and lose it.

Your choice.

e

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» RE: No, see Posted by: symcokid
» RE: No, see Posted by: trampoline
Rove
Posted by: bettyn on Nov 1, 2006 10:50 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This is what worries me. I'm sure the voting machines in my district in Florida have been tampered with by "L'il Bro" and his buddies. Everytime I go to vote, I feel like a fool because I know these damned things are rigged, especially here in the "Elephants' Graveyard" (Where old midwestern Repugs go to die.).

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voting machine problems
Posted by: Democracy chick on Nov 1, 2006 12:53 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If you are trying to vote and run into problems, call I-800-MyVote1. Common Cause is among the groups promoting the hotline. We can't solve your problem directly, but your call helps us pinpoint the problems for the media. We are starting to listen to hotline calls, and we also are picking up on problems with machines in Texas and Florida.

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fighting
Posted by: insulaparadigm on Nov 1, 2006 1:26 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
though disheartening, the movement to keep voting accurate has grown dramatically (finally) I remember reading about just a small group of renegades having to steal trashbags of voting machine printouts to a least a few groups working on it and media coverage.

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Fixed
Posted by: Jeanne on Nov 1, 2006 1:53 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If the errors that occur are simply honest bugs in the machine, or voters who accidentally hit the wrong button, why aren't the Republican-voting citizens experiencing the same error rate? The problem is purposeful, and it is in the programming. Otherwise the Republicans would be screaming (and you know they would) about their votes being miscounted for the Democratic candidates. Maybe people should be able to do the Iraqi version of "I voted" by dipping their fingers in blue dye to prove that they voted and they voted "blue".

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» RE: Fixed Posted by: JSquercia
All Voting Is Fraudulent! Don't Waste Your Time!
Posted by: hot_rad_man on Nov 1, 2006 3:24 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If you think your vote makes any difference I have a bridge in Brooklyn you might want to buy! No candidate is going to represent the common working man (a person making less than 80K) You may think he is going to do you good but he is banking on the billionaires who put him in office. 95 percent of us are not being represented in this screwed up Democracy in America. I will take Communism any day over this messed up country!

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We've been warned
Posted by: Glennk1949 on Nov 1, 2006 5:26 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The FIX has been in for a very long time folks. The development of these machines and the vote flipping software in them is the Repig "final solution" to the problem of Democracy and Democrats. They hate both and with their new weapon they have finally defeated them maybe for all time. The only way we'll ever win again is to destroy the present voting system mandated by the GOP controlled Congress after the Fla. fiasco. The so called HAVA law of 2001 was the end of Democracy in Amerika. Welcome to Amerika Inc. an affliate of BIG Corp Inc.

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» RE: We've been warned Posted by: symcokid
It has begun...
Posted by: NoPCZone on Nov 1, 2006 7:39 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Ars Technica, a well respected tech/geek site has posted this article on the developing e-voting mess. Well worth a look and your time.

Read It Here

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Exit Polls
Posted by: swissliberal on Nov 2, 2006 3:47 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I hope, when Exit Polls show a big difference to the "result", the mexicans taught the right actions.
Actually, the evil empire can only "fix" the results in close races. So the democrats have "only" about a 5-10 percent disadvantage.

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Wrong number for Common Cause voter complaint line
Posted by: Democracy chick on Nov 2, 2006 6:17 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted wrong number. It is 1-866-MYVOTE1. We have already been hearing from early voters about problems in Texas and Florida. But whatever the difficulties, don't give up on voting! It's the best means we have to express ourselves in a democracy.

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Outside Scrutineers
Posted by: Gisele on Nov 2, 2006 7:38 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It sounds like each station needs an "independent, outside America" scrutineer taking names of voters, and who they voted for - using good old fashioned paper and ink.

Just don't choose anyone from the Harper or Blair governments..or you're stuck for another two years. Gee, I wonder what Mr. Putin and his government are doing on November 7th?!

Before you turn purple in the face, and your head explodes..I'm teasing you!

But...it does have merit because America isn't the only country in the world that will have to live with the outcome of this election.

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Machine malfunctions already in Tennessee
Posted by: harpy on Nov 2, 2006 1:26 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Our local newspaper headlined with the news that an early voting site had been shut down yesterday because a JBC (judge's booth control) couldn't handle the volume. http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=3694182. After about an hour they had it back up, but they said they had to switch and get another one. Our town isn't that big, during primaries we had people turned away. It's unbelievable. Maybe it's because so many are voting for Harold Ford and Rick Trent instead of the Repugnican criminals like Crooker, who just threw in another $2 million of his personal fortune to spread his racist crap.

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vote theft
Posted by: dougo on Nov 2, 2006 5:52 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Exit polling must be done and if the results vary we must have new elections!

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There's only ONE way to vote with a touchscreen machine...
Posted by: xbj on Nov 3, 2006 1:20 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Use an AXE on the screen instead of your finger to select your candidate.

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