| Weapons of Mass Distraction Does The U.S. Hold Free Elections? by Mark Taylor-Canfield By the time most readers see this article, the US Congressional elections of 2006 will already have taken place on November 7th. In 2006 even the mainstream corporate media has been putting folks like Seattle’s own Bev Harris on the air to talk about the ability to hack the Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia electronic voting machines. Although Harris and fellow voting rights activist Andy Stevenson were sounding the alarm during the 2004 presidential elections, they were virtually ignored by most media networks at that time. There have been no major moves by the government to bring accountability to the electronic voting systems around the country since the last national election. Instead, the US Congress has focused on creating more electronic voting as a part of the so-called “Help America Vote” legislation. As a response to the problems with the infamous “hanging chads” in Florida during the 2000 presidential elections, Congress voted to eliminate most forms of paper voting in favor of the electronic machines. As a result, more than 70% of US voters will use some kind of electronic voting system in the 2006 Congressional elections. With the balance of power in Washington DC riding on this election, many voting rights activists are worried. George W. Bush and Karl Rove seem overly confident of the results prior to the actual election. Journalists covering the White House are asking themselves, “Do they know something we don’t?” According to the co-author of the book “Bush’s Brain”, James Moore, Karl Rove has committed unethical and illegal acts before to secure his power base, so November 7th, “will be very messy.” Moore is referring not only to the possible hacking of electronic voting machines to influence vote counts, but also the more subtle violations of the Voting Rights Act that are practiced in many conservative communities around the US. Polling locations can be changed at the last minute by local election boards. Republican operatives are going through lists of persons with felony convictions and hoping that, as in 2004, people with similar names will be barred from voting. Voting districts with predominantly African-American or Democratic voters may find that there are few machines in their precinct, causing long delays (in 2004 delays lasted more than 8 hours for some people). According to Bev Harris from the Black Box Voting project, Americans can’t call this Congressional election “legitimate”. The software used for counting our votes is considered “proprietary” by the corporations that manufacture the voting machines. That means no government or public body can monitor how the votes are tabulated. We are being asked to trust the corporate interests to count our votes properly when it is a well-know fact that these corporations, for the most part, are run by wealthy Republicans. Few US citizens even bother to go to the polls anymore. Compared with most European nations, our voter turnout is a disgrace. Most Americans do not believe that their vote makes a difference. They are convinced (with good reason) that the current two-party political system is controlled by wealthy corporate interests who do not have the public’s best interest in mind. Third party candidates rarely ever get corporate media coverage. Just last month Green Party candidate for US Senate Aaron Dixon was arrested at KING TV studios for refusing to leave after being barred from the televised debate among candidates vying for Maria Cantwell’s US Senate seat. Given the current state of affairs in US politics, can it really be stated with any kind of authority that the US holds free elections? Bev Harris says the amount of tampering and fraud that is possible makes the election results very suspect no matter what they reflect. What should be most frustrating for the average voter is that the only response offered by the activists and the Democratic Party is to vote in large numbers and bring cameras to the polls to document the fraud. This advice is hardly reassuring to folks who question the accuracy of the election results. This form of apathetic acquiescence is exactly what got us to this desperate situation in the first place. The “go along to get along” political culture of our nation’s capitol is not able to adapt and progress in the face of these challenges. Instead our leaders continue to stick their heads in the sand while our democracy is flushed down the toilet. They are only hoping that they might be the beneficiaries of any of the unethical political shenanigans taking place. No one in the national government has had the courage to stand up and speak out on one of the most important issues of our time. No candidate for elective office has been able to hold our electoral system accountable to the people who vote. So what should be the rational response of a reasonable person to these circumstances? I must admit that I also lack any grand scheme to remedy the problem. Whatever change takes place in the way we choose our leaders, the movement for electoral reform must come from the people. Otherwise, we risk that the failure of our democracy will continue to be ignored by those who benefit from the results of those very same elections that are conducted with fraud and lack of accountability or verification. These are the facts as I have presented them. I make no radical claims or accusations; I am only reporting the information that is available to anyone who is interested in finding the truth. I do not know how the US public will react to the 2006 Congressional elections. Most polls and political pundits are predicting that the Democrats will take the majority in the House of Representatives, thereby forestalling the Bush administration’s divide and conquer policy being practiced around the globe by his minions. It may well be the first real opposition he has faced as President of the United States of America. I must hesitate, however, in endorsing this optimistic view of the coming months and years in US political history. It goes without saying that the Democratic Party has often served as nothing but a weak patsy for the conservative right. Witness the invasion of Iraq. It is completely possible that a deal has been struck by the powerful, behind the scenes, ensuring a Democratic victory but with many political caveats. Corporate money is a major factor in Democratic as well as Republican politics. Progressive minded reformers in Congress may find themselves going head to head with some members of their own party who will not want to move too far away from the comfortable status quo prevailing in Washington DC. Some Democrats, including Washington’s Senator Maria Cantwell, are not exactly anti-war. The tragedy in Iraq is likely to continue for some time no matter who controls the halls of Congress. There are few heroic leaders on the Democratic side of the isle. Most are merely political operatives controlled by the conservative Democratic Leadership Conference. It would be a nice dream to finally have national healthcare, good schools and higher wages, but I’m not going to hold my breath. In the meantime, here are some options for voters who want justice. The following list of actions was compiled for the benefit of voters by Fran Korten, Doug Pibel, and Paul Mozur: 12 WAYS YOU CAN SAFEGUARD THE VOTE Will it happen again? On November 7 we may see voters waiting in long lines, only to find they’re not on the voter rolls. We may see election workers struggling with malfunctioning machines. If you’re worried that we will wake up November 8 to find that, once again, election procedures in key races are in question, read on. BEFORE ELECTION DAY • Check your registration. Even if you think you’re registered, you may not be. Check online at www.CanIVote.org. Or call your local election officials (find contact information at Overseas Vote Foundation). • Mail with care. If you’re voting by mail, check carefully where you need to sign, how to seal the envelope, and how to mark the ballot. And note: Some ballots weigh more than an ounce and require extra postage. • Find out who’s in charge. Make a phone list of your county and state election officials - it may save valuable time on Election Day if you need to get registration verification or ON ELECTION DAY • Vote early. If you encounter problems, you’ll have time to sort them out and may be able to help others. • Take your government-issued ID (such as your driver’s license). You may not need it, but it’s best to have it. • Bring your cell phone, if you have one. If you have problems, or see problems, you can call a hotline immediately (see point #9). • Ask for a paper ballot. Some states, such as California, require polling places to have paper ballots available on request. If you don’t want to use a machine, see if your polling place can provide a paper ballot. If machines aren’t working or there are other problems, ask for an emergency ballot (although they may not be available everywhere). • Verify your vote. If you’re voting on an electronic voting machine, check the review screen to make sure it reflects your vote. If the machine produces a paper record (28 states require one), read it carefully to make sure it correctly reflects your vote. If it is incorrect, speak to a polling attendant - don’t leave until you’re sure your vote has been properly recorded. • Document and report. If you encounter difficulties, or see others experiencing difficulties (excessive lines, voter harassment, malfunctioning machines, etc.), make a detailed record. Get all the facts you can - location, names, specific problem. We recommend two nationwide networks where you can report problems. One is 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683), which will have volunteer lawyers in 15 locations standing by to provide assistance. The other is 1-866 My Vote-1 (1-866-698-6831), which will record your problem by voicemail, then forward your call to your local board of elections. Both will enter the information you provide into a database to use to support challenges to problem elections now and demands for reform in the future. AFTER ELECTION DAY • Call your candidate. If there are questions about an election result, urge your candidate not to concede early. Encourage him or her to follow through with all available challenges and recounts. Ask how you can help. • Call your election officials. Let your county and state election officials know that you have concerns about the election and will be monitoring their response. Ask them not to certify the election before all challenges and recounts are finished. INTO THE FUTURE • Work for fair, transparent elections. Voice your questions about voting machines, vote suppression, and election problems promptly. Keep the issue in front of your election officials. If we want clean, trustworthy elections in 2008, we have to start working on it now. EMERGENCY MEETING: JUST IN CASE This emergency meeting will be called “just in case” shenanigans happen on November 7th. The purpose of the meeting will be to strategize the immediacy of a response. According to the public notice: “As we have learned from 2000 and 2004, and from the Ukraine and Mexico, once the “fix” is in, it becomes very important for WE THE PEOPLE to organize a response. Many of us are worried and concerned that there might be massive, national voter fraud and irregularities. We are further concerned about an “incident” with Iran as a run up to the election. PLEASE, if you find value in this call, pass this message throughout your networks JUST IN CASE.” The meeting will take place November 8th, 7pm at Trinity United Methodist Church (6512 23rd Ave. NW 98117). www.verifiedvoting.org |
