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That way, we know for sure.
Speed should NOT be a consideration, when the integrity of our elections is at issue. But just to put some perspective on this, electronic voting machines have been causing major fuckups in elections, including many delays at opening precincts, breakdowns of machines, long lines and other problems. Give me some white-haired little old ladies with fast fingers any day! In Canada, it's all paper ballot and hand-counting and they do it in one day.
And what would you rather have--delayed results, or George Bush as President? Personally, I'd gladly wait a week, even a month--if that were necessary--to NOT have that bastard and his cronies in power.
Venezuela has electronic voting, but they use open source code--anyone may review the programming code by which the votes are tabulated--and they handcount FIFTY-FIVE PERCENT of the ballots, as a check against machine fraud. Venezuela has the most highly monitored and honest elections on planet earth. That's why they have an advocate of the people for president, and a majority of progressives in the National Assembly. That's why some of the oil revenues are going to education, land reform, medical care, small business loans and other helps for the poor, rather than lining the pockets of the rich. That's why Bolivarian ideas of Latin American self-determination and regional cooperation are catching fire throughput the continent. Because of transparent elections!
Receipts don't help if they go into a "lockbox" to gather dust. In fact, receipts don't even help in a recount--if anyone should have the money and legal assistance to get one (it's been made very difficult). The paper record must be a PAPER BALLOT, with legal standing against the electronic results. Further, why were these systems put in place with NO audit (automatic recount) in many states, and a lousy stinking 1% audit in the best states? How can this have happened? No re-countability? And no or greatly inadequate audits? Are our party leaders nuts? Also, these corporations--Diebold, ES&S--are not neutral parties. Both of them have strong, direct connections to the Bush Junta and far rightwing causes. And they let THEM count all our votes under a veil of corporate secrecy? Do our party leaders have their heads up their asses? This is just mind-boggling.
These electronic systems should NEVER have been put in place without a ONE HUNDRED PERCENT paper ballot audit, at least for the first few elections. And after that, something like Venezuela's 55%.
Receipts in a lockbox is not going to put things right. Nor is the lousy 2% audit that this Diebold/ES&S-shaped Democratic Congress is now proposing--while leaving the "trade secret," proprietary code in place, and permitting these RIGHTWING BUSHITE corporations to continue running our elections. Here's what we need:
1. We need to know what happened. How did this rightwing-controlled electronic voting coup happen in the first place? What were Christopher Dodd's and Terry McAuliffe's roles in it? What were Tom Delay's, Bob Ney's and Abramoff's roles? The "Help America Vote for Bush Act" of 2002 was passing over felon Bob Ney's desk at the same time as the Indian casino bribes. This needs investigating. Who is collusive with the Bushites? Who is corrupt, and in what ways? And is it mere venal corruption (--that $3.9 billion e-voting boondoggle trickling through everyone's fingers), or worse--collusion to keep Bush/Cheney in office and create a phony endorsement for the Iraq War? And what part has been played--and is being played--by fear? I know in California that some of our state Dem legislators were strongarmed into shutting up, when Diebold shills went after our honest Sec of State, Kevin Shelley, and drove him from office. (He had sued Diebold for the lies they told about the security of their machines, decertified their touchscreens and demanded to see their source code, six months prior to the 2004 election.) This needs to be cleared up. It really does. Because Democratic Party leaders are in truth one of the biggest obstacle to reform.
2. We need COMPLETELY TRANSPARENT VOTE COUNTING. Vote counting that everyone can see and understand. And since we cannot dislodge the vast corruption that Diebold/ES&S and their Bushite cabalists have inflicted on our election system, with these extremely expensive systems and all the filthy lobbying that went with it, we need a PAPER BALLOT backup for every vote, and a 100% handcount. We can't get rid of these machines before '08, but, by God, we can demand that they COUNT the goddamned votes, and post the results, BEFORE any electronics are involved. This is what we should be insisting upon. And we need to be insisting upon it at the local/state level, because the Democrats in Congress are NOT fixing this. At best--at best!--they are going to mandate some kind of "paper trail"--whether a real ballot or not, is up in the air--and put 98% of that "paper trail" into a "lockbox," never to be seen again. If we want to restore election integrity, we have to do it ourselves, through pressure on local officials.
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