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Departments Election Issues Will Your Vote Even Get Counted? These candidates also may have an advantage that has not been publicized widely enough. Our elections are controlled by an international, privatized electronic voting industry, making it hard to know who actually owns the voting machines we use. Based on my research on rigged elections, I believe there is a deliberate effort to obscure some ownership issues. Records show that Unisyn, owned by a Malaysian gambling company, Scytl, ES&S, Dominion, Sequoia and Hart InterCivic are major players. There have been allegations that Tagg, Ann and Mitt Romney own Hart InterCivic, whose machines will be used in parts of Ohio and in Colorado (both swing states), and other states too. Since most of us will be voting on highly riggable electronic voting machines, the election of these anti-women Republican candidates is greatly enhanced. The Republican War on Women and the war on our ballots are inextricably entwined. There is no way to know if our votes will be counted as cast on these electronic voting machines. The software on the machines is proprietary and only the corporations and/or their vendors have access to it. Furthermore, as is shown in "Hacking Democracy," the software can be tampered with and leave no trace of this hacking. Could foul play via voting machines account for an alarming red shift in the country's elections, evidenced in many of the recent so-called "upset victories," in which hard right conservatives won? In the hotly contested Massachusetts Senate race between Elizabeth Warren (D) and Scott Brown (R) about 69% of MA voters will vote on the same Diebold AccuVote OS [Optical Scan] electronic voting machines that were hacked, without leaving a trace, in "Hacking Democracy," These same machines were most likely hacked in Volusia County, Florida in 2000. Each machine is supposed to have one memory card. In the middle of the night in Volusia, a second memory card "mysteriously appears" in precinct 216 and negates 16,022 votes for Gore. Read Bev Harris' account, especially pages 172-80, of the appalling verbatim conversation between Diebold higher-ups and between these higher-ups and election officials in Volusia County about this memory card. The question remains: Why couldn't it happen in MA on November 6, 2012? What can we do about this sinister attack on democracy? Paper ballots are not enough. The paper ballots must be hand-counted. There must be a monumental outcry against these electronic voting machines and a demand for publicly observed, secure hand-counted paper ballots (HCPB) elections. In the same way voters have adamantly challenged Republican suppression of the vote, we must also take up this demand now. The most transparent and accurate way of knowing who won an election is by hand-counting the ballots at the polling place immediately after the polls close. Here are some requirements for secure elections. A proactive way to challenge rigging of electronic voting machines now (before we outlaw them altogether as The Netherlands and Ireland have done), is to file an injunction to preserve the evidence and to bar certification of results by immediately after the election impounding all machines, memory cards, paper ballots properly stored in their ballot bags and boxes and all computer-generated paper output. In 2011 in New York's 26th congressional district Jane Corwin (R) did this for only one jurisdiction. NY-26 had been held by Republicans since 1970. Corwin was for Ryan's plan to overhaul Medicare and the democratic candidate was not. Corwin thought it would be a close election when she filed for an impounding, looking for a possible recount. It was not; Kathy Hochul (D) won and Corwin cancelled the hearing. It is not uncommon to file for such an impounding in a close race, says the Rochester Democratic and Chronicle. I am talking about doing it for an entire state. The Impound Order clearly allows challenges to elections, voter registration and candidate qualifications. The same reasoning that applied in NY-26 governs other states. A voter could seek an injunction preserving evidence that might substantiate the claim of election fraud in highly contested and/or close elections. There could be misconduct on the part of election officials. There is potential for some kind of fraud that election officials can’t detect. The impounding preserves the evidence for a possible recount. The possible outcome of this year's election and its effects on women because of the use of electronic voting machines is massive. We must mobilize to protect a democratic voting process through hand-counted votes. ---------------------- Article originally posted at On The Issues Magazine Sheila Parks, Ed.D. has been active in the current wave of voting rights since the crimes of the Florida 2000 presidential election. She has written numerous articles on the rigged elections and recently published a book on that subject. She is the founder of the Center for Hand-Counted Paper Ballots. Moreover, she has conducted extensive research on the method of hand-counting our votes instead of using the electronic voting machines. She has observed in real time the hand-counting of votes and has been an official observer in a Boston, MA hand re-count. She was also invited to NH as an unofficial observer of a hand-recount there. An ardent feminist, internationalist and peace & justice activist, Dr. Parks defended the abortion clinics with her body for many years. |
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Recent Election Issues Articles Story notes For television producer Shonda Rhimes Timeline 2004 – One more look at the Ohio election Dysfunction at Maricopa County Elections department disenfranchises tens of thousands SWING STATE: How the Fix was Nixed in Ohio Romney may have lost, but the voting system is still broken OPINION: Your vote got counted. Here's why Matrix of Deceit: Forcing Pre-election and Exit polls to Match Fraudulent Vote Counts Bifani rap on the state of the elections in the USA An America Yet To Be Born Voter Supression In Center City Allentown PA An Election Protection Agenda for 2016 Vote totals for Obama and Romney inexplicably decreasing in three Ohio counties Opening of polls in Franklin County on Election Day Fitrakis returns from federal court hearing on Ohio voting machine software patch Good news for OSU students trying to vote Video of vote flipping in Pennsylvania Bob Fitrakis from the hearing today Reports from election observers and voters: Broken scanners and too many provisionals Nearly 1000 voters forced to vote provisional in a single Franklin county precinct Breaking News: Judge denies request to stop illegal software patches Election watch report from Columbus Ohio Action at the Driving Park polling site The Battleground States: True Vote Sensitivity Analysis Woman not allowed to vote Breaking News: Results of today’s hearing in state court on the uncertified and untested software Election Protection News Conference - Pt. 1 Election Protection News Conference - Pt. 2 Another Husted dirty trick in Ohio: Secretary of State's Office admits direct reporting function of untested election software OHIO – VOTE HEIST 2012? Invoices prove Romney-related voting company Hart InterCivic does maintenance on Cincinnati voting machines Columbus Free Press Editor and Publisher files suit in federal court to stop suspicious software November 5 Press Conference: FEDERAL E-VOTING LAWSUIT FILED VS. OHIO SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN HUSTED GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL AND CONGRESSIONAL NOMINEES REVEAL DETAILS The electronic architecture of voter suppression As Ohio Faces vote-rigging lawsuit, are dems, liberals, election officials ready to safeguard votes? Busting election theft attempts Will Your Vote Even Get Counted? The Free Press confirms installation, secret justification of uncertified last minute election tabulation reporting software in Ohio Will "experimental" software patches affect the Ohio vote? Why we fight to prevent stolen elections in 2012 and beyond Mike Connell: Man in the Middle Gripping documentary exposes voter suppression and election rigging in the 2004 presidential election Thom Pintello: I Just Want My Vote to Count" Why Romney has already won this electronic election, unless… Partisan lies about the security of Hart e-voting machines continue to flow from Hamilton County Romney family and friends will help tabulate the vote count in Cincinnati: Hart Intercivic holds maintenance contracts on their own machines Election software company Scytl on the run from the Free Press, from one fake address to the next The case for irrational voting Why are legal scholars dismissing election fraud?: Manufactured skepticism and exit polls Jamia Shepard: Advocate for Voter Rights Does the Romney family now own your e-vote? Secretary of State’s directive allowing early voting during three days before Election Day long overdue: Lawsuits and voter confusion could have been avoided “It’s Ok to leave your abuser,” says Green Party VP candidate Will H.I.G.-owned e-voting machines give Romney the White House? Ignore debate zingers, focus on issues Bob Fitrakis speaks at Neighborhood House candidate forum Last three days before election early voting reinstated in Ohio...sort of Book Review: A Must Read for All U.S. Citizens Vote counting company tied to Romney Will 9 GOP governors electronically flip Romney into the White House? Ohio Elections Commission finds probable cause that anti-Issue 2 ad is misleading Who owns Scytl? George Soros isn’t in the voting machines, but the intelligence community is Will the GOP steal America's 2012 election? Pragmatic Racism Four ways the Ohio GOP is already stealing the 2012 election Gubernatorial Recall Ballots Saved from Destruction in Waukesha County, WI - For Now... What Paul Ryan has and Obama wants Playing field is tilted against voters Colonels in mirrored sunglasses The new Jim Crow: Massive disenfranchisement returns Mishandled Redistricting disenfranchises 3,000 voters Corporate vote theft and the future of American democracy PART ONE New certifications, planned expansion Progressive morality Was the election stolen in Wisconsin - what are the odds? Columbus Free Press in the news: A million voters purged Wisconsin: New year, same stench Republican retreat - Ohio House Republicans defeat their own voter suppression bill Elections: What are they good for? The peace movement needs Kucinich, with or without Congress Ron Paul, "Progressive" for who? Do We Approve of Murder Based on Political Party? Pollsters Don't Want You to Know The State of Obama's 2008 Promises The election we should be following Booing the Golden Rule Six Problems with New Hampshire Elections The hollow democracy Read Election Issues Articles by Year: |
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