BBV: Democracy at Risk (Krugman - NYTimes)

[GregD]

I met Krugman last Sunday in Berkeley, and he promised another article - and he delivered!

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The disputed election of 2000 left a lasting scar on the nation's psyche. A recent Zogby poll found that even in red states, which voted for George W. Bush, 32 percent of the public believes that the election was stolen. In blue states, the fraction is 44 percent.

Now imagine this: in November the candidate trailing in the polls wins an upset victory — but all of the districts where he does much better than expected use touch-screen voting machines. Meanwhile, leaked internal e-mail from the companies that make these machines suggests widespread error, and possibly fraud. What would this do to the nation?

Unfortunately, this story is completely plausible. (In fact, you can tell a similar story about some of the results in the 2002 midterm elections, especially in Georgia.) Fortune magazine rightly declared paperless voting the worst technology of 2003, but it's not just a bad technology — it's a threat to the republic.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/23/opinion/23KRUG.html




Folks:

We need your support at www.VerifiedVoting.org, or at www.BlackBoxVoting.org, or both. But whatever you do, we need your help getting HR2239 and S1980 passed. Please... Take some time today and make a few calls, send a letter, and tell everyone you encounter about this looking disaster...

[Stephanie]

1. Incredible

I never thought this day would come.

[Stephanie]

2. Urgent!

Everyone needs to read this right now! It's amazing!

[Melodybe]

3. Thank god this is catching on!

[calimary]

4. I wonder if ANYONE is listening to this man.

Paul Krugman is WUNNNNNderful. He's brilliant, and he's spot-on about SO many of the crimes and crapulations of this horrid regime. He is a prophet of truth. Is ANYBODY out there paying attention, besides just us? I wonder if what he's written has been getting through to anybody.

[Stephanie]

5. Oh, they're paying attention. Absolutely they are.

This article is a HUGE breakthrough. It's completely amazing.

[frank frankly]

8. you are right, stephanie

krugman is historical

[SoCalDem]

11. The one problem is this

In the red states , lots "admit" the election was stolen, but THEY THINK IT'S OK..or FUNNY.. It infuriates me when people laugh about it.. Laughing about it makes it an "oops, I spilled the milk" moment..

People should be going to JAIL for what went on, and will continue to go on.. As long as the "average" person looks the other way, it will only get worse..

The way 2000 was reacted to, allowed 2002 "odd results" to happen..

:(

[RedEagle]

16. There should be jail time NOW for some officials....

....like the county auditors and election officials in California who purchased voting systems BEFORE they were certified. Seems there is a wrinkle in state law that says a system has to be certified.

Instead, the state helps them out of their self-imposed debacle, they cry about not being able to use the machines, and the public foots the bill and gets the shaft.

You want this cleaned up instantly? Take legal action at the county level.

And make them use voter verified paper ballots or regular old-fashioned paper ballots in 2004, or be guilty of putting votes at risk. They can get a simple, ballot template for the visually impaired, that works on tactile sense with an audio cassette- kind of like a low tech touch screen- but with a paper ballot.

ps
Most state laws usuaully have something about "secure" systems, correctly or accurately counting, and the like, plus what about the false claims of vendors?

USE THEM. :-)

[SeveneightyWhoa]

6. Krugman is a GOD.

Congrats on getting this to him. I'm impressed.
He's a hero as far as I'm concerned (oh and did I mention, he's a God?).

[frank frankly]

7. you are right, he is A god, not The God...she's involved elsewhere

toast to andy and bev and proudpatriot and all you beautiful brave and smarter than me people!!!!!!!!!!!

[SeveneightyWhoa]

Well of course.

We all know who the real GODS here are!

[SeveneightyWhoa]

9. Well of course.

We all know who the real GODS here are!

[GregD]

10. NYT Editorial on Internet voting too!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=326911

[althecat]

12. Hey hey hey!!!! This is a happy day...

Well he certainly has delivered..... there are more than a few paragraphs in that column that could deserve full blown features to be written.... and that goes for the editorial too. From what I know the NYT has now editorialised about the Volusia county fraud and the Florida vote scrub but hasn't written about them!!!

Extremely cool though...

[althecat]

13. P.S. This is the first mainstream mention of the Volusia upset...

And that too is very significant.

[gristy]

14. And a second BBV article on Online Voting appeared today

The Perils of Online Voting
Published: January 23, 2004

Internet voting has been viewed as a possible cure for some of the ills that afflict the mechanics of American democracy. Recently, the technology has seemed to move ahead of any serious consideration of whether it is actually a good idea to allow home computer owners to choose a president in the same way they order bath towels online or send e-mail to their relatives. But now there are grave questions about whether even the technology makes sense.

Four computer scientists brought in by the Pentagon to analyze a plan for Internet voting by the military issued a blistering report this week, concluding that the program should be halted. These four are the only members of a 10-member advisory committee to issue a report on the program. Their findings make it clear that the potential for hackers to steal votes or otherwise subvert elections electronically is too high. Congress should suspend the program.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/23/opinion/23FRI1.html

And, interestingly enough, this article is the "Top Opinion Article" today. You will see its ranking in the top right hand side of this page

[leftchick]

15. Great News GregD

We all need to call our Reps. :bounce:

[The Backlash Cometh]

17. kick

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