Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

EdwardBernays

(3,343 posts)
Thu Mar 31, 2016, 08:33 PM Mar 2016

Wake Up: Your Vote Doesn't Count

"For eight years, Sepúlveda, now 31, says he traveled the continent rigging major political campaigns. With a budget of $600,000, the Peña Nieto job was by far his most complex. He led a team of hackers that stole campaign strategies, manipulated social media to create false waves of enthusiasm and derision, and installed spyware in opposition offices, all to help Peña Nieto, a right-of-center candidate, eke out a victory. On that July night, he cracked bottle after bottle of Colón Negra beer in celebration. As usual on election night, he was alone.

Sepúlveda’s career began in 2005, and his first jobs were small—mostly defacing campaign websites and breaking into opponents’ donor databases. Within a few years he was assembling teams that spied, stole, and smeared on behalf of presidential campaigns across Latin America. He wasn’t cheap, but his services were extensive. For $12,000 a month, a customer hired a crew that could hack smartphones, spoof and clone Web pages, and send mass e-mails and texts. The premium package, at $20,000 a month, also included a full range of digital interception, attack, decryption, and defense. The jobs were carefully laundered through layers of middlemen and consultants. Sepúlveda says many of the candidates he helped might not even have known about his role; he says he met only a few."

"Sepúlveda says he was offered several political jobs in Spain, which he says he turned down because he was too busy. On the question of whether the U.S. presidential campaign is being tampered with, he is unequivocal. “I’m 100 percent sure it is,” he says."

http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-how-to-hack-an-election/

Don't bother commenting on the validity of this before you go read the article...

It's amazing to me that people think that election hacking is a conspiracy theory in 2016... like all those billion dollar corporations just dump money into politics without trying to rig the outcome... give me a break.

9 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Wake Up: Your Vote Doesn't Count (Original Post) EdwardBernays Mar 2016 OP
So Who Do You Think Is Supulveda's Counterpart Here In.... global1 Mar 2016 #1
It's EdwardBernays Mar 2016 #2
when everyone is trying to "explain" hc's huge wins in the south questionseverything Mar 2016 #4
Sounds like a trustworthy source nt firebrand80 Mar 2016 #3
except for cheating bernie would have won 250% of all votes cast and uncast forever amen nt msongs Mar 2016 #5
Just gonna EdwardBernays Apr 2016 #6
My vote for Prez counts, but doesn't make a difference bigwillq Apr 2016 #7
If you EdwardBernays Apr 2016 #9
They try every possible way to rig the vote. Orsino Apr 2016 #8

EdwardBernays

(3,343 posts)
2. It's
Thu Mar 31, 2016, 08:52 PM
Mar 2016

almost impossible to know really... and smart money would place that counterpart well outside US borders...

I'd 100% say that any national campaign worth a sh!t has access to people like this though... because their money people would know who they are... heck the campaigns probably don't even know half the time... they're just amazed to suddenly get a lot of new phone numbers to call, or email addresses to spam, etc.

We see it here all the time... I've seen numerous posts where people say they never signed up to a certain candidates mailing list, but then they suddenly start getting hit up for money.. it happened to me...

On top of that, when you look at what happened in AZ, well... it could be a simple computer glitch, but......... then again........

And of course, we'll likely never know...

What we know for a fact is that e-voting is unsafe, as a rule, and computer databases are routinely hacked, as a rule... and the government is wildly inept at protecting their data...

questionseverything

(9,664 posts)
4. when everyone is trying to "explain" hc's huge wins in the south
Thu Mar 31, 2016, 09:53 PM
Mar 2016

what i think to myself is

there is literally no paper to count in most those states

all blackbox voting in miss,alabama, Arkansas,ky

not that paper counted by machines is much better but in theory it the ptb allowed it votes could be counted

but as the article points out there are a million ways to cheat an election

 

bigwillq

(72,790 posts)
7. My vote for Prez counts, but doesn't make a difference
Fri Apr 1, 2016, 07:22 AM
Apr 2016

I live in solid blue CT, where the DEM nominee is going to win no matter what I do.

The only votes that really matter are those in swing states.

EdwardBernays

(3,343 posts)
9. If you
Fri Apr 1, 2016, 08:48 AM
Apr 2016

Read the article I'm not even sure you'll be sure that those votes are accurate.

Only 3/10 Americans have faith in the American Democratic system. I'm sure that number will only continue to fall.

Orsino

(37,428 posts)
8. They try every possible way to rig the vote.
Fri Apr 1, 2016, 08:21 AM
Apr 2016

Why would we believe that they would get squeamish over actual ballots?

And rigging is exactly why the damned machines were invented and implemented.

The good news is that voting still does sway elections..just not the way we'd like to believe.

Latest Discussions»Retired Forums»2016 Postmortem»Wake Up: Your Vote Doesn'...