New Zealand writer C.D. Sludge has an expose' of the problems inherent in the electronic voting machines used in the U.S. The article says the scandal is 'bigger than Watergate,' which may be a bit of hyperbole, but if the voting machines have been tampered with that statement might be literally true.
Sludge's story is disturbing, but the crux of the matter is what I've been saying for some time. A handfull of peolpe have access to the machines' programming. If the people assigned to run the machines want to manipulate vote totals they can do so, and probably do it in such a way that no one could ever detect the tampering.
I would be surprised if this sort of fraud hasn't happened already.
This story came to me via TalkLeft, who points out the ties that Republicans have to a voting machine manufacturer. Given the Democrats' history, I don't think they would be above this sort of behavior, either. I don't trust either party to do what's right at any level.
Update: From the comments on the TalkLeft post, this website promoting the use of more secure electronic voting machines. VerifiedVoting.org
Posted by Walter at July 8, 2003 09:47 PMProblems tallying the votes will exist with any voting system.
Posted by: Cal Ulmann at July 9, 2003 10:33 AMYes, but there's a difference between counting being a difficult task with the possibility of error, and counting being intentionally and massively manipulated in such a way that even a recount will give the same result.
Posted by: andy at July 11, 2003 08:39 AM