- There's something strange going on in the Democratic
Party. While George Bush's buddies dominate the vote counting business
with no apologies to anyone about this rather incredible conflict-of-interest,
Democrats are sending mixed signals on this continuing train wreck for
democracy.
Let's start with billionaire George Soros, the Democrats anointed billionaire
savior. They should get to know him better. According to voting rights
activists, Soros is a proponent of Internet voting, the most insecure voting
technology on face of the planet. He's also a disciple for Direct Democracy
(i.e., the initiative process). Think about that. For anyone who wants
to control a government, the combination of the Internet voting and Direct
Democracy is a fascist's dream-team. Through control of vote-counting technology,
not only could "someone" pick our legislators, they could also
pass their own legislation. They could be a true Wizard of Oz.
Howard Dean says on his website, "I support pending legislation to
require that all voting machines produce an actual paper record that voters
can view to check the accuracy of their votes, and allow election officials
to verify votes in the event of irregularities."
However, the Associated Press reported on Oct. 02, 2003, "Eight of
the presidential candidates have written national Democratic officials
to support a challenge of Michigan Democrats' plan to allow Internet voting
in its caucuses Feb. 7. Only Howard Dean, former Vermont governor, and
Wesley Clark, the retired general who just joined the race, did not sign
on to back the protest."
One day later, on Oct 3, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) voted
to endorse the policy of requiring paper ballots for touchscreen voting
machines by the 2004 election. So far so good. This action was in line
with Congressman Rush Holt's (D-NJ) legislation to require touchscreen
voting machines to produce paper ballots for audit purposes and recounts
(HR 2239). Presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) is one of
96 co-sponsors. And despite the fact that the legislation does not call
for a full hand count of the ballots, which many activists feel is essential
to establish real security, most agree that it's a step in the right direction.
Of course there are others, this writer included, who believe that all
the machines should be junked.
But on Nov 22, hardly a month later, the DNC took it all back. They voted
to approve the use of Internet voting for the Michigan Democratic Primary.
What's up with that? Aren't they connecting the dots? No paper ballot -
no security - no recount. But, there's also something sinister in the air.
When this reporter called the Michigan Democratic Party to find out which
company got the contract for the Internet vote, I was told that the company
did not want its name released at that time. I then called the DNC who
had to approve the deal and who also agreed to keep the company's name
a secret. They finally relented under the merciless scorn this writer heaped
on their spokesperson.
So, Election Services Corporation (ESC) is the Internet voting company
and Democratic bad boy Tony Coelho is on their board. This is a little
unusual in a business dominated by the Republican and foreign corporations.
Tony "was a six-term congressman and House majority whip, who resigned
from Congress after reports surfaced that he had accepted a sweetheart
loan from a troubled S&L operator. The loan helped Coelho buy a $100,000
junk bond, but he never reported it on his government disclosure form.
The Justice Department decided not to bring charges against him,"
according to Slate.msn.com. He was also investigated by the State Department
when he was Al Gore's campaign manager for the 2000 presidential election.
The investigation was reportedly related to his work as the commissioner
general of the United States Pavilion at the 1998 World Expo. As a result,
Tony resigned as Gore's campaign manager.
More mixed signals keep coming from the Dems.
In December, Senator Bob Graham (D-FL) introduced companion legislation
to Rep. Rush Holt's. So far, none of the Senators running for President
(Kerry, Edwards, or Lieberman) have signed on as co-sponsors. Actually,
the bill as no co-sponsors in the Senate. Where is their survival instinct?
Do Democratic Senators really believe that a bunch of corporations can
be trusted with election security after all the business scandals of the
past few decades?
-
-
- Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton introduced her own bill, which
curiously calls for no real change in the status quo. Although her bill
offers the option of paper ballots printers for touchscreen voting machines,
it does not require them. Clinton's bill reads, "While requiring that
all election jurisdictions give voters the ability to verify their votes,
this legislation also gives States and local jurisdictions the flexibility
to employ the most appropriate, accurate, and secure voter verification
technologies, which may include voter-verifiable paper ballots, votemeters,
modular voting architecture, and/or encrypted votes, for their State or
jurisdiction in a uniform and nondiscriminatory manner." One wonders
if Hillary simply got bad advice or if she's just blowing smoke in a move
reminiscent of some of her husband's political machinations while in office.
Frankly, itâs too late to require touchscreen voting machines to
have printer attachments for the 2004 election anyway. The only option
now is for the Dems to call for a machine-free 2004 election the old-fashioned
way, using paper ballots and local hand counts. The Dems need to tell the
public that paperless voting machines are an invitation to uncontrolled
and undetectable vote fraud. It's a pretty clear message that the public
can understand.
Lynn Landes is a freelance journalist who specializes in politics, the
environment, and health. She is one of the nation's leading journalists
on voting technology and democracy issues. Lynn is also the publisher of
<http://www.ecotalk.org/>EcoTalk.org, and is a former news reporter
for <http://www.dutv.org/>DUTV and a British Broadcasting Corporation
(BBC) radio program. <mailto:lynnlandes@earthlink.net>lynnlandes@earthlink.net
(215) 629-3553
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