It's Over, They've Already Stolen 2008

Early voting has begun in several states. It is obvious to me that the fix is in. From Deibold, Premier, and ES & S voting machines flipping votes to massive voter purgings in the swing states, to the "Stepford Wives" election officials and poll workers repeating , "Everything is fine. Everything is alright. There is no need for concern. Have a nice day.", as more and more voters complain of machine errors.

Example #1. October 18, 2008
More W.Va. voters say machines are switching votes - In six cases, Democratic votes flipped to GOP
By Paul J Nyden
Staff Writer
WINFIELD, W.Va. -- Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week. This is the second West Virginia county where voters have reported this problem. Last week, three voters in Jackson County told The Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for "Barack Obama" kept flipping to "John McCain".

Not one voting machine's error has ever been in favor of a Democratic candidate. Not one!!

Example #2 Ohio Secretary of State's website has hacked. This October surprise seems aimed to harrass and intimidate. The bigger concern is that the attacks could threaten sensitive records and functions of the site. And the SOS is taking precautions. In a press release Monday, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner announced that "the state website has been set in a static mode with limited functionality as a precaution." The press release also cites "denial of service" attacks against both phone and email, and which include threats of harm and or death, as well as a suspicious package.

On Oct. 16,2008 Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has asked the United States Supreme Court to protect the voting rights of an estimated 200,000 Ohioans. Because of a politically-motivated lawsuit, eligible Ohio voters could be forced to use provisional ballots if a lower court’s divided decision stands. (Provisional ballots are rarely if ever counted) The State's Supreme Court ruled in favor of Ms. Brunner. The decision by the full court repudiates the lower court's ruling siding with the Ohio Republican Party and ordering Brunner to verify records of about 200,000 of 666,000 new voters this year whose driver's license and Social Security records don't match information in other government databases.

Example #3 October 9, 2008 In response to the New York Times article reporting that thousands of voters have been purged from the voting rolls, The Colorado Secretary of State's office says potentially ineligible voters have been put on "canceled status," which it says isn't the same as taking them off rolls. The republican Secretary of State Mike Coffman adds, "Voters who have been wrongly put on cancelled status can cast provisional ballots, which will be counted if they are found to be eligible."

Mr. Secretary, Whether you put them on "canceled status" or "purged" is splitting hairs, you say potato and I say potato . . .either way these people's votes will not be counted! You are systematically diminishing the number of voters in your state, the majority of which are Democratic!!

Example #4 The "Help America Vote Act" passed into law in 2002 is another example of deception in politics. Much like "The Clean Air Act" that removed the restrictions on toxic emissions placed on businesses during the Clinton administration. The "No Child Left Behind" Act that in fact made less funding available to children's health and medical programs and totally eviscerated the "Head Start" program that helped feed under privileged kids. The Help America Vote Act actually makes it more difficult for a citizen to vote. Due to the debacle in Florida in 2000, this act mandates that all states and localities upgrade many aspects of their election procedures, including their voting machines, registration processes and poll worker training. The specifics of implementation have been left up to each state, which allows for varying interpretations of the Federal law. Those states with Republican Secretaries of State have very successfully used this act to suppress the votes of Democrats.

This lousy Act mandates the purchasing of electronic voting machines that are now in 90 percent of all the voting districts. The voting technology business is dominated by Republican-leaning U.S. and foreign corporations. Today, two Republican-controlled corporations, Election Systems and Software ( ES&S) and Diebold Voting Systems, and a British-based company, Sequoia, control about 90% of the vote count in the U.S.. (Up from 60% just 8 years ago) Many other corporations are also involved in the elections industry. Meanwhile, the long history of exit polling accurately predicting election outcomes has mysteriously become unreliable over the past 8 years. In every curious incident the Republican candidate won. There is no federal agency that has regulatory authority over the elections industry. There are no government standards or restrictions on who can sell and service voting machines and systems. Foreigners, convicted criminals, office holders, political candidates, and news media organizations can and do own these companies.

This is the last blog entry on the evils of the electronic voting. I've devoted far too many posts to this abomination and it's time to address other issues. Let me just tie this up in a nice neat little pissed of bow: Let's just suppose that you bought a computer and every time you entered the Disney web site . . . up popped Milf Hunter.com. Oh, and by the way the computers were made by a company owned by Larry Flynt and Ron Jeremy. How long would it take for congress to demand a recall? What if every time you used your universal remote to change channels and when you pushed the numbers for FOX news . . .up popped MSNBC. Then you find out that Chris Matthews owned stock that universal remote company? You see my point here? It would be the headline of every newspaper and the lead story on every news program. (except MSNBC of course) It astounds me that the Dems in congress allow this monopoly of the instruments of our democracy to go unchallenged. What am I missing here? Do I need to revisit my conspiracy theory that there is only one party and we the people are merely given the illusion of choice? I hope not but, the closer we get to election day, the more election tampering is taking place. It's time for printed receipts so a voter has indisputable proof of who he or she voted for. It's time for voter notification if they've been purged from the voting list. It's time for a moratorium on voter purging less than 90 days out from an election. Voter I.D and registration cross checking needs to be streamlined. If a car dealer, can verify a person's address, social security number, checking account, and credit rating in a timely manner, why can't state election officials? I have such a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that we' re gonna wake up on November 5th and see that they've stolen another one. I hope I'm wrong, because if that happens I'm taking it to the streets where I'll get the shit kicked out of me by some police officer in riot gear or by someone from the 3rd infantry's 1st brigade.

DaG Out