http://www.theemailactivist.org/voter_fraud.htmThe Email Activist Lying With Ones and Zeros
Promoting active citizenship through the power of the Internet. “If you look at theconsequences for democracy, it's terrifying.There's no way to run areliable election without averifiable paper trail--that's what these machines don't have.”- David Dill, StanfordUniversity computer-science professor “A quiet revolution istaking place in U.S.politics. By the time itis over, the integrity ofelections will be in thecontrol of a few largepro-Republicancorporations."– Andrew Gumbe “There are hundreds ofways to embed a rogueseries of commands intothe code and nobodywould ever know. Thenumbers would all tallyperfectly.”- Dr. Rebecca Mercuri,expert in voting systems “A number of myRepublican colleagueshave come up to meexpressing someconcern about the voting.I've explained my bill tothem. They said thatsounds good, let me goback and talk to my staffand presumably talk tothe leadership.And I never hear fromthem again.”- Representative Rush Holt “Corporate America isvery close to runningthis country. The onlything stopping them fromtaking total control arethe pesky voters. That'swhy there's such a driveto control the vote. Whatwe're seeing is thecorporatization of thelast shred of democracy.”- Roxanne Jekot,a programmer whoreviewed Diebold’selection codes What if you were a reporter and you learned that the Republican candidate for Georgia’s governorship won the election of 2002 even though polls indicated that his Democratic opponent was likely to beat him by a margin of 9 to 11 points?And what if you learned that in the same state, in the same year, a Republican candidate for Senator defeated his Democratic opponent, even though the Dem was expected to win by a 2 to 5 point margin?And what if you learned that in 2002, Georgia became the first state in the U.S. to use computerized touch-screen voting machines in all of its election districts? Well, if you were a good reporter, you’d probably talk to the election officials who counted the votes, wouldn’t you?And what if you learned that Georgia’s votes were not counted by state election officials but were instead counted by employees of the private corporation that manufactured and programmed the computerized voting machines? After you picked yourself up off the floor, you’d probably ask to see the paper voting records, right?And what if you learned that those machines produced no paper voting records and that there is no way whatsoever to verify that they recorded the votes accurately?And, what if you learned that the company which sold those voting machines to Georgia, and which counted Georgia’s votes, is a big contributor to the Republican Party? In fact, it turns out that the three largest manufacturers of touch-screen voting machines are all major contributors to the Republican Party.If all that were true, you’d probably start smelling the foul stench of election fraud, wouldn’t you?Well, everything you just read is true. Shockingly true. The reporter is Andrew Gumbel, and the three corporations at the heart of this stunner are Diebold Election Systems, Sequoia Voting Systems, and Election Systems and Software (ES&S). (You can read Gumbel’s full story here.)The voting machines these companies produce run on software just like the software that runs your home computer. It’s made up of strings of ones and zeros, just like the codes that hackers use to spread their Internet viruses. Just like the codes that advertisers use to slip web trackers and spyware onto your computer or to hijack your Web browser so that it takes you to their sites instead of to the sites you request.Get the picture? These expensive high-tech voting machines are actually easier to rig and manipulate than any other form of voting! And they are rapidly replacing older voting machines all across the country.According to Gumbel’s report in the London Independent, what happened in Georgia was not unique in the 2002 elections. Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois, and New Hampshire also experienced unusual last-minute swings in some of their election districts, but only in the ones that used electronic voting machines. Interestingly, those sudden and unexpected swings only occurred in hotly contested districts, and in each case, the winning underdog was a Republican.In July of 2003, independent researchers from Johns Hopkins University examined the software Diebold created for the Georgia elections and found it scandalously flawed—hackable by any talented teenager. Diebold’s software, for instance, violated several of the most basic security protocols, such as placing passwords in the source code and configuring the “smart card” function so that one person could cast more than one vote.Hopkins researchers also found loopholes that could have allowed votes to be altered without a voter’s knowledge, either on the spot or by remote access. This means that a voter could leave the voting booth believing that he or she had voted for Candidate A, but the machine would actually have recorded his or her vote for Candidate B. This also means that someone with a device as simple as a Palm Pilot could alter votes from across the room.State governments purchase voting machines through exactly the same bidding process they use to purchase other items. Naturally, companies that want an advantage over competitors are likely to grease the skids, so to speak, by wining and dining politicians, not to mention making large campaign contributions. This creates an enormous and democracy-threatening conflict of interests. Any company that produces easily rigged voting machines can promise politicians much more than a good price or a kickback for accepting the company’s bid. Even if the politicians themselves aren’t in on the scam, CEOs of these highly conservative companies still have an incentive to assure the victory of candidates who are friendly to Big Business. Diebold’s contract with Georgia was worth $54 million, and Diebold is also about to close a similarly lucrative deal with Maryland. It makes one’s hair stand on end to learn that in August, 2003, Diebold CEO Walden O’Dell wrote a letter to Ohio Republicans in which he said he was “committed to helping Ohio to deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.” He wrote this letter at the very time Diebold was bidding for a contract to sell its voting machines to the state of Ohio! What’s more, even after O’Dell’s letter was exposed to the public, Ohio’s Secretary of State—who happens to be a Republican—still had the audacity to put Diebold on Ohio’s list of preferred voting machine vendors. As it stands, Diebold’s machines will be used in Ohio’s presidential primary in March.Think that’s bad? Try this. Chuck Hagel, the head of ES&S, sold his company’s voting machines to the state of Nebraska. Shortly after that he became Nebraska’s first Republican Senator in 24 years. Eighty percent of Hagel’s votes were counted by ES&S employees in complete corporate secrecy. States all across America are currently rushing to install computerized voting machines because no one, after all, wants to re-enact Florida’s Hanging Chad Fiasco of 2000. What isn’t well known, however, is that while punch card machines like the ones that embarrassed Florida have a relatively high error rate, computerized voting machines are even worse. The truth is, the safest, most reliable method of counting votes is—you guessed it!—hand-counted paper ballots. See for yourself at The Voting Technology Project.Clearly, what we need in is a law that will require all voting machines in this country to provide a verifiable paper trail. And fortunately, a bill like that is now in the works. Not surprisingly, however, not a single Republican supports it. Representative Rush Holt, a New Jersey Democrat, has introduced a bill in Congress, called the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act, which would, among other things: require all voting systems to produce a voter-verifiable paper record that can be used in manual audits.
ban the use of undisclosed software and wireless communications devices in voting systems.
require mandatory surprise recounts in 0.5% all voting jurisdictions, both domestic and overseas.
require all voting systems to meet these requirements in time for the General Election of 2004.
(You can find the complete text of the bill here.)So far, Holt’s bill has 61 co-sponsors supporting it—all of them Democrats. Please check here to see if your Representative is among those who have co-sponsored this bill. And if not, get angry. What’s more, consider the potential fate of Congressman Holt. He represents counties in New Jersey that might soon begin using touch-screen voting machines. If that happens before his next election, we might never hear from him again. Or any other Democrat, for that matter.Here’s what you can do about this outrageous attack on democracy.First, direct everyone you know to this web page.Second, send a copy of the following letter to your Representative in Congress.Dear Representative _________________:I am astonished and fearful to learn that electronic touch-screen voting machines are easily rigged and that they may have already been used to steal several recent elections throughout the country.For a summary of the threat posed by electronic voting machines, please visit www.theemailactivist.org/voter_fraud.htm on the Web. Once you’ve read this summary, I expect that you will immediately co-sponsor Representative Rush Holt’s bill, HR 2239, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act. I also expect you to fight aggressively to get this bill pushed straight through Congress in time for the 2004 General Elections. You can find the full text of Congressman Holt’s bill at
http://thomas.loc.gov. In summary, it will require all voting systems to produce a voter-verifiable paper record that can be used in manual audits.
ban the use of undisclosed software and wireless communications devices in voting systems.
require mandatory surprise recounts in 0.5% all voting jurisdictions, both domestic and overseas.
require all voting systems to meet these requirements in time for the General Election of 2004.
If you do not support this crucial bill, I will do everything in my power to see that you are not re-elected. Nothing less than democracy is at stake.Sincerely,(Your name and address) Third, send a copy of the following letter to your elected representatives in your state legislature. If you have trouble finding their contact information, please visit our Getting Started page.Dear Delegate (or Senator) ________________:I am astonished and fearful to learn that electronic touch-screen voting machines are easily rigged and that they may have already been used to steal several recent elections throughout the country.For a summary of the threat posed by electronic voting machines, please visit www.theemailactivist.org/voter_fraud.htm on the Web. Once you’ve read this summary, I expect that you will immediately initiate legislation to place a moratorium on the use of these machines throughout our state. I also urge you to initiate legislation that will require all voting systems in our state to produce a voter-verifiable paper record that can be used in manual audits. This legislation should also ban the use of undisclosed software and wireless communications devices in our state’s voting systems.If you do not support such a bill, I will do everything in my power to see that you are not re-elected. Nothing less than democracy is at stake.Sincerely,(Your name and address) Subscribe to our free email newsletter.