The Voting Machine Debacle
vote
Who allowed this Mess?
Here we are just two days away from the Election of the Century and our voting machines have a fatal flaw - they do not have paper trails. How is it that our system has allowed this to happen? With all of the inconsistencies and problems of the last two presidential elections, one would think that we could trust our methods for counting every single vote in the nation. Instead, we have electronic voting machines that cannot be audited - NO PAPER TRAIL!
In the 2000 election more than 180,000 votes went uncounted - in the 2004 election more than 80,000 votes were not counted. There is a movie documenting this allegation and it airs Monday, November 3rd and Tuesday, November 4th on Stars Edge and Stars Cinema.
Paper ballots
There has been much to-do about the Acorn voter registration “fraud.” Now in my county, in order to vote you have to supply a valid ID. If you have registered as Mickey Mouse, for example, then your driver’s license or passport must reflect that. I think it is despicable that the registrations could be false, but to actually vote under the fictitious name is not very easy or probable. What we need to concentrate on is the actual voting - and that includes the electronic machines and their inability to be audited. This is outrageous. Some states still have paper ballots which are then electronically counted, but that is not the norm. Watch this video from BrassCheckTV for some startling facts.
The Solution Politicians did not Want
Can you wait?
Athan Gibbs is the man behind the TruVote verifiable voting machine, but he died in a horrible car crash just days before appearing at a congressional hearing. At this point in time the Democratic candidate Barack Obama is leading in the polls, but the McCain camp tells us they CAN pull out a win - which they can - especially if votes are not counted correctly or the polling places for poorer counties do not provide adequate space and time in which to vote. We’re all aware of the early voting that has been going on around the country, and the tremendous wait times associated with these places. If I have to wait an hour I come back later. Some people have waited up to 12 hours to cast their vote. This is CRAZY! But oh so true.
Granted, on November 4th all voting locations will be open which will alleviate the wait, hopefully, and allow everyone who wants to vote do so. Once the vote is cast, it is up to the individual to check their ballot for inconsistencies or errors. I heard Oprah Winfrey say how surprised she was to see that her vote for Obama had not registered on her ballot and she had to redo that option. She gave all America a warning about being absolutely sure you are voting for the correct person - and don’t vote down strict party lines. It has been shown that if you select Democratic or Republican, some votes, like for President of the United States, may not show. It’s all so ridiculous. The biggest, smartest, wealthiest nation in the world still can’t conduct elections that are free of fraud. Not even close. We shall see this time around if the exit polls coincide with the actual votes and results. I can’t wait!!
