The Secretive World Of Voting Machines
Compiled by Lynn Landes
Voting machines can be easily rigged and impossible to monitor. They are sold and serviced by a handful of private companies dominated by active and wealthy members of the Republican Party. The use of voting
machines should be unconstitutional, but Congress has failed to act... except to pass laws that give billions for voting machines, while failing to require any mandatory standards. Meanwhile, misguided voting
rights groups are suing for the right to use the latest most sophisticated computerized voting equipment... that are the easiest to rig by the fewest number of technicians.
In the last several decades the rich have gotten richer and the poor poorer. This is not a formula for a conservative groundswell. Yet, both conservative Democrats and Republicans have long enjoyed success at the
polls. Have elections in America been rigged to shift power to right wing candidates from both parties, despite the public's support of left-wing causes such as universal health care, quality public
education, a clean environment, and a living wage? In the secretive world of voting machines... anything is possible. (See: Nov 12, 2002 American
Coup: Mid-Term Election Polls vs. Actuals by Alastair Thompson of Scoop)
MASTER LIST OF
VOTING MACHINE ERROR REPORTS
Bev Harris is the lead investigator on voting machine ownership and errors. She will soon publish a book on the subject - Black Box Voting.
The only legal option to voting machines - go back to hand-cast-hand-counted paper ballots. Paper ballots cast early, absentee, or by-mail may still be counted by machine, however they do leave a paper trail and may also be the only way to protest the use of voting machines and "business-as-usual." HREF="http://www.ecotalk.org/VotingMachines-LegalVoting.htm">(for more details) Summary of issues regarding voting machines Background: Voting machines have been in America since 1889. The use of computers in voting technology began around 1964. Most of Europe still uses paper ballots. In Canada's last national election, paper ballots were hand-counted in 4 hours. Today, 98% of votes in America are tabulated by voting machines. HREF="http://www.ecotalk.org/VotingMachines-ConstitutionalIssues&FederalLaw.htm">Constitutional issues - federal & case law Ownership - privatizing, monopolizing & politicizing the voting process HREF="http://www.ecotalk.org/VotingMachines-TechnicalIssues&Standards.htm">Technicalities - vote rigging, audit-ability & voluntary technical standards Voter News Service (VNS) VNS was a top-secret private consortium owned by ABC News, The Associated Press, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, and NBC News that allegedly projected election night winners from 1989-2002. /www.ecotalk.org/VNS.htm">for more details... Complete list of Landes articles: Apr 14, 03: HREF="http://www.ecotalk.org/VotingMachinesUnconstitutional.htm">Voting Machines Violate Constitution - Who Will Launch Legal Challenge? Jan 20, 03: HREF="http://www.ecotalk.org/VNSclosingdoors.htm">Suspicion Surrounds Voter News Service Nov 26, 02: HREF="http://www.ecotalk.org/FederalObservers.htm">Mission Impossible - Federal Observers & Voting Machines Nov 8, 02: HREF="http://www.ecotalk.org/MidtermElections2002.htm">2002 Elections: Republican Voting Machines, Election Irregularities, and "Way-Off" Poll Results Oct 28, 02: It's A High-Tech Ambush - Just Say "No" To Voting Machines / PR Newswire press release Sep 23, 02: HREF="http://www.ecotalk.org/VoterNewsService.htm">Election Night Projections - A Cover For Vote Rigging Since 1964? (Voter News Service) Sep 16, 02: HREF="http://www.ecotalk.org/AmericanElections.htm">Elections In America - Assume Crooks Are In Control Aug 5, 02: HREF="http://www.ecotalk.org/Dr.RebeccaMercuriComputerVoting.htm">The Nightmare Scenario Is Here - Computer Voting With No Paper Trail News! Mar 28, 03 New Voting Systems Assailed, Computer Experts Cite Fraud Potential by Dan Keating of Wash. Post Mar 6, 03 Now Your Vote Is The Property Of A Private Corporation by Thom Hartmann Feb 27, 03 HREF="http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzelec0227.story"Election.com Sold To Group Tied To Saudi Nationals (scrubbed - Lynn's copy< /A) by Mark Harrington of Newsday.com Feb 25, 03 HREF="http://www.blackboxvoting.com/votehere-lawsuit-1.html">Voting Machine Engineer Sues, Alleges Machine Design Flaws by Bev Harris Feb 20, 03 HREF="http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/02/20/voting_machines/index .html">Hacking Democracy by Farhad Manjoo of Salon.com Feb 12, 03 HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,893701,00.html">Par anoid Party Rights by Matthew Engel of T he Guardian (UK) Feb 5, 03 HREF="http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0302/S00036.htm">System Integrity Flaw Discovered At Diebold Election Systems by Bev Harris Jan 31, 03 If You Want To Win An Election, Just Control The Voting Machines by Thom Hartmann (MikeHersh.com) Jan 30, 03 Sen Chuck Hagel Admits Ownership In Voting Machine Company by Bev Harris Jan 29, 03 HREF="http://www.hillnews.com/news/012903/hagel.aspx">Hagel's Ethics Filings Pose Disclosure Issue by Alexander Bolton, www.HillNews.com Dec 10, 02 Charlie Matulka,Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Nebraska, asks for a vote recount in his race against Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, who is invested in a company that owns the voting machines used in both of his election. Nov 16, 02 Voting Machines and the Bamboozling of America by Christopher Bollyn of American Free Press.net Nov 12, 02 Amercian Coup: Mid-Term Election Polls vs. Actuals by Alastair Thompson of Scoop Dec 14, 00 21400-108.htm">The Real Scandal Is The Voting Machines Themselves by Jonathan Vankin of New York Press Nov 2000 186.html">Manufacturers Admit Voting Machines Unreliable (16-28% of the time) by Christopher Bollyn Nov 1996 Pandora's Black Box by Philip M. Halloran of Relevance (good summary to that point in history) Nov 7, 1988 Annals Of Democracy - Counting Votes by Ronnie Dugger for The New Yorker July 29, 1985 Computerized Systems for Voting Seen as Vulnerable to Tempering by David Burnham of New York Times OUTSIDE LINKS: (Comment - I don't necessarily agree with everything on these websites, but they are good information sources. -- Lynn Landes) Bev Harris is the lead investigator on voting machine ownership and errors - Black Box Voting Dr. Rebecca Mercuri is the nation's leading expert on voting machine security. Her website has lots of information and links - NotableSoftware.com Philip M. Halloran (1996) Good summary to that point in history The Collier brothers: VoteScam.com website, book, and video. These brothers were the first to explore in-depth voting machine fraud, as well as the news networks secretive and suspect dealings through Voter News Service. In the book, readers must wade through the adventures of the Colliers, however still lots of important information on election fraud. Comment: The Colliers description of VNS (Voter News Service) as the entity that "officially" tabulates and announces the vote for major elections is not correct. See Voting Machines, VNS ...for more info Jim Condit, Jr. VoteFraud.org: Good stuff, needs to be updated Daniel Hopsicker, Follow The Chad (series) The Big Fix 2 000 (video): website and film contain lots of useful information on voting machine companies, but not particularly well organized. HREF="http://www.madcowprod.com/welcomechad.htm">http://www.madcowprod.c om/welcomechad.htm HREF="http://www.madcowprod.com/intro.htm">http://www.madcowprod.com/int ro.htm HREF="http://www.madcowprod.com/II.htm">http://www.madcowprod.com/II.htm HREF="http://www.madcowprod.com/III.htm">http://www.madcowprod.com/III.htm HREF="http://www.madcowpress.com/videos/"http://www.madcowpress.com/videos (video)