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Call it, what, our crapshoot democracy?
The looming election - the process itself, not merely the feints and jabs of the candidates - is actually getting some mainstream media attention, as in, ahem, voting public, excuse me, but maybe you should be aware that irresponsible self-interest has been detected in the vicinity of our polling places and some bad choices have been made lately (electronic voting is unreliable) and, well, how badly did you want your vote counted?
In September, for instance, the Washington Post sounded this subdued, hapless warning: "Faced with a surge in voter registrations leading up to Nov. 4, election officials across the country are bracing for long lines, equipment failures and confusion over polling procedures that could cost thousands the chance to cast a ballot."
Got that? Election Day could be chaos in many places. Election officials are bracing themselves. Crazy, untested equipment, too darn many new voters. Should the rest of us be bracing ourselves too?
On Oct. 5, the Lakeland, Fla. Ledger put a little more urgency into a story about the state of Florida's - and the country's - election system, and even suggested that the process was being sabotaged by more than just well-intentioned, bipartisan bungling:
"Voting used to seem pretty simple," writes Joe Follick. "Citizens showed up on Election Day. Candidates and political parties focused on their campaign messages. State officials urged folks to vote and tabulated the results quietly.
"But all that has changed since 2000's historic election. Now the weeks preceding an election have become critical battles with the deployment of lawyers and angry accusations of bureaucratic chicanery aimed at keeping voters away."
Power transfer is no different in a settled democracy than anywhere else, it turns out. It's as messy, greed-driven and trouble-prone as an unregulated free market. Probably the biggest threat to fair and free elections is our faith-based belief that on this one occasion, when the stakes are highest, no one in America - no one who has power to lose - is going to cheat. This is a fool's mythology.
In point of fact, our future is up for grabs in less than a month, ladies and gentlemen. The struggle to control it is raw and primal.
Furthermore, whatever the sins of the Democrats, they are not - after eight years of George W. Bush, the cheater in chief - the minority party. That is the status of the GOP, which absolutely cannot win unless it can choke the surge of change-demanding voters who intend to cast a ballot on Nov. 4. God knows, they have no chance of winning on the issues, the strength of the disastrous McCain-Palin ticket or even their ability to spin and lie. Their best chance to win is by keeping Democrats from voting. Consider a few of the ways they are trying to do this:
1. Use the bureaucracy of the state to kill, or at least maim, the democratic process. In Florida and other states, as the Ledger reported, something known as the "no match, no vote" law is being used to strike as many voters as possible from the rolls. Where voters' registration information doesn't precisely match driver's license and other information in state data bases to a T, sorry, you aren't eligible to vote. Think of it as disenfranchisement by typo. And certain ethnic groups, such as Hispanics and Asians, would likely be disproportionately affected (which is the point), because their surnames are more likely to be transposed or bungled at least once.
2. Send out bad information to target groups, such as out-of-state students. For instance, the Republican clerk of El Paso County, Colo., informed local students: ". . . if your parents still claim you on their income tax returns, and they file that return in a state other than Colorado, you are not eligible to register to vote or vote in Colorado." Not only is this an outright falsehood, it's virtually the same falsehood that Republican bureaucrats tried to fob off on students in Virginia and South Carolina as well, belying their protests that this was somehow an honest mistake.
3. Spread creepy misinformation anonymously. According to the Philadelphia Daily News, fliers in black neighborhoods of Philadelphia recently showed up warning residents that undercover cops would be prowling the polling places, arresting would-be voters with so much as an unpaid traffic ticket on his or her record.
4. Balance every accusation of vote suppression with the charge that Democrats are perpetrating voter fraud with their hugely successful registration drives. Throw as many obstacles as possible into the voting process, especially in low-income, ethnic and student neighborhoods. Find as many legalistic excuses as possible to challenge voters and, win or lose the challenge, you slow the lines and cause people to leave without voting.
And of course, supplementing these and many other dirty tricks will be the X-factor, the hackability of touchscreen and other forms of electronic voting. When - or, let us pray, if - the vote confounds polls and expectations, shrug and call it closet racism.
30 Comments so far
Show AllEveryplace has mail-in voting now-- it's called "absentee." However, as noted above, that does not solve the fundamental problem of a corrupted system, as mail-in ballots are still read by (hacked?) machines.
Before the last election Vanity Fair ran a piece by the Diebold security guy, who said that no one had bother to set passwords on the machimes he checked. So, anyone could hack them from their home computers.
The code is 1111, in case you're interested.
Here in Las Vegas they raided the ACORN office which has been registering voters from both parties, but mostly Democrats because that is what they are seeing more of, on orders from the Attorney General, with whom they have been coordinating registration investigations for months.What they do not report in the press is that the Republican Party has been registering voters as well, with one exception - instead of surrendering all registrations immediately to the county clerk, they are submitting them to the RNC here in Las Vegas first for review and to put registrants onto Republican mailing lists. Now if they are questioned about this they will admit that it is their policy, but if you do not know to ask, you do not know. In fact, I just found out by mistake by the young daughter of a woman trying to register voters, using her underage daughter to fill out forms at one entrance of the local grocery story, while Mom worked the other door. This has been reported to the DNC offices and the Obama campaign, but so far the only group registering people that have been targeted is the one working for a fair and honest election here in Nevada and the rest of the country. so much for honest elections in the state of Nevada!
I have been hearing form Democrats who say this is the most important election of our lifetime and that we must defeat McCain. So after losing the last two elections how come they never bothered to address that the voting process is rigged both legally (electoral college) and illegally?
I'm not an Obama supporter, but if I was, I would be pissed off. If he loses to McCain the Democratic populace would be justified in aggressively "taking to streets". Personally, I think Obama will win and that because McCain/Palin are such weak opponents (and always have been, regardless of fake polling data) we are witnessing a non-democratic power-sharing arrangement. It would certainly explain why bush wasn't impeached.
But if he loses, all you Democrats should know you've been robbed, and "lose it" too... in the streets.
Don't hold your breath waiting for Democrats to hit the streets if McCain steals this one. Cowards don't protest.
Remember 2000 in Florida or 2004 in Ohio? The sheep just went back to pasture. In fact, Kerry conceded so fast, his cowardliness discouraged anyone thinking of protesting.
Greg Palast was on "Democracy Now" today, which was devoted entirely to the voter registration issues mentioned here. Also Ohio Secretaery of State, Jennifer Brunner who succeeded the notorious Kenneth Blackwell was interviewed. Please go to their website for links to these segments.
Craptocracy is bull shit.
Well OF COURSE the Republican party despises democracy. They are quite blatant about it. It makes me wish we had an opposition party.
To be objective (and not partisan), the Republican Party AND the Dead Democratic Party despise democracy. If the Dems cared about democracy, they would never have encouraged these damnable e-voting machines in the first place and they would have worked vigilantly to get rid of them. They have NOT. Instead, they have encouraged them. Also, the Dead Democratic Party has done their best to keep "third party" candidates off the ballot in as many states as possible. If either party cared about democracy (which they don't), there would be more than 2 pro-war, pro-Bush, corporatist candidates on stage for these so-called "debates." If the Dems cared about democracy they would demand that all presidential/vp candidates have an opportunity to express their views. They have not.
That's why I wrote that third sentence.
&YYY&+
There are some places round the world, where the theory and practice of particular public institutions are state of the art. That is they serve their purpose and function in the simplest and most effective way. A nation that wished to be the best would do well to emulate.
Lets see, there is Canada and Cuba for health care systems. Australia has a voting system whereby you are fined if you do not vote without sufficient excuse, and it is all done simply on ballot paper, although the system favours a two party scheme. Financial and Banking systems still manage to exist under greater government control and scrutiny.
Looking at the United States, the only conclusion reachable is that the agents running government policy just want to get it wrong. They pull apart the system by seeking there own agendas. There is no general agreement or social contract. A society without suitable restraints and standards will soon become an uncontrollable shambles, and democracy will not work, no matter how much of the worlds resources and wealth some of its members have to squander.
I voted via absentee ballot, to bypass the election chaos and get my vote in on PAPER!
Crafty
Well, the vote-by-mail ballots are "counted" by the same corrupt, fraudulent voting machines. So by doing so, does not at all by-pass the corruption. Yes, you will have a record of your vote on paper...as if anyone will care!
Let's not forget the Republican shills and third party hopefuls posting on Common Dreams.
I second that.
Stop the "third party" hate please.
I'm okay with you hating the Republicans, though, that seems appropriate.
I second that.
Never in my life did I think that America could also take up the corrupt voting practices that we see in third-world nations. Darnit, no matter how liberal I consider myself, I continually find that I am more conservative than any Republican "conservative" out there. I'm downright old fashioned by having to say that I want trust put back into the voting system. Apple pie anyone?
i think this is one of the areas that call into question the assertion that there is "no difference" between parties or candidates.
Why has the Republican machine put so much effort over the past twenty years into suppressing Democratic voters and stealing elections?
You seem to forget or not know that from the start the Dems in congress have encouraged these easily-hackable voting machines which now saturate the nation. You also seem to forget that the Dems are quite content with these machines (as corrupt as they are) because Bush-enabler John Kerry couldn't get to the microphone fast enough in 2004 to concede (that stolen "election"...FL and OH) to Bush. This was despite Edwards saying previously that all votes would be counted. Like hell they would! John Kerry didn't have time for that. This was despite the Dems' claim that they would have banks and banks of attorneys that Kerry and the useless and worthless Dems were going to have at their disposal in place to deal with "irregularities."
It was bull shit.
The Dems are just as content with stolen "elections" and voter suppression and any other sham connected with this charade called an "election" as their close friends the Repugs. The D/R are one in the same and I don't know how much more evidence one needs to see to grasp that...assuming one wants to. That's often the problem. It's called Denial. The Democratic Party is DEAD and has been so since 2000.
Sam,
i know all that - the Democratic party has effectively been non-oppositional since about 1984, people can argue about dates and specific turning points.
There is still a logical problem.
If both sides are fine with whoever, then why does the one side pour so much effort and resources into stealing elections from the other? Why is it so freakishly important to them that George W Bush be seated instead of Al Gore?
Very clearly, the Republican operatives who play this game (Rove, Cheney, PNAC, Bush, now McCain and Palin) see themselves as distinctly different from the Democrats they take advantage of. This is not "denial" on my part, it is just looking at what happens in this two-party game.
And, for all the "proof" that so many keep providing that they are "one and the same", the fact remains that the future trajectory of both parties remain subject to social forces. The fact that you repeatedly "prove" that there is "no difference" between the two, does not in fact "prove" what either party will do under the social forces unleashed by the collapse of the financial system and the uncovering of the rotten economy.
i am NOT arguing that "We just need to elect wall to wall Democrats" [whatever happened to Daniel David?]. i am just saying, lots of posters here sure seem to know exactly how the future is going to unfold. i still believe, as has always happened throughout history, people will be surprised at how the future unfolds.
"The Dems are just as content with stolen "elections" and voter suppression and any other sham connected with this charade called an "election" as their close friends the Repugs."
Remember what Patty Hearst did after she was kidnapped by that terrorist group?
Or the kid who was found recently after having been missing for some years?
Back in the late sixties and seventies, I got so fed watching the repugs attack the dems just like they're doing now, and all the lame dems could do was whine, "I didn't do that," or some other limp denial. No fight in them at all. I got so fed up with them I changed to Independent. I've watched them bow down to their bullies more and more over the years. Anyone who's ever had to deal with constant bullying knows what it does to you. I have, and I do. Which is the best reason to replace those dems who've been in Congress forever with younger, hopefully tougher ones.
When votes are switched on these easily-hackable e-voting machines it is done (or it happens) electronically. Even the voter does not know and will not know when it happens unless the voter receives a print-out of how they voted and then the voter takes the time to examine that print-out. How many voters would actually do that?
So one can bring in as many "poll observers" and video cameras and you name it as one wants, it will make little difference because elections are stolen electronically, NOT in full view of "observers" whether they be from the UN or any other place.
To me it's a given that 2008 (if there is a Diebold Selection) will be stolen since 2000 and 2004 were and voters will be voting on the SAME CORRUPT system.
Until we vote using paper and PEN and votes are counted in public view, our "elections" are a charade.
Yeah, call in the UN polling observers!! We really need their help.
UN polling observers
Gosh, isn't this just the greatest little banana republic ever?
Dave
http://daveeriqat.wordpress.com/
If the system that exploits us all cared anything about citizens, elections would be such a priority that no one would have to work during elections.
Why does our society give priority to consumption "Holidays", while people have to beg for time off to vote? The system keeps money flowing in the direction of the system. I remember; a long time ago, when voting was the most important thing people did on Election Day. Now it's just something they do on their lunch hour, or on the way to Walmart.
The fear tactics used to keep people from voting for third party candidates keep these candidates out of the debates so that the debates are nothing more than a pleasant infomercial for those in power. Then the media whips up some phony controversy to make us believe there is a real choice. One reason why some religions have always had one day per week for prayer and no work is because those people figured out how to get a day off from slavery and spend it with family, or thinking.
Call in "sick" on Election day.
Everyone should start flooding their state government with requests to change to Oregon's and Washington's Mail In Voting. It would be much easier to make sure that machines counting the votes was in good working order than all those polling places machines.
The nice thing about the mail in voting is the time you have to make your decisions, fill out the ballot and get it mailed. You don't have the hassle of weather, finding parking, getting time off from work, or any of the hassles the standard way of voting has.
This time it will be the republicans crying foul. maybe WE CAN HAVE REAL DEMOCRACY?????
American IDOL style????
" If the vote confounds polls and expectations, shrug and call it closet racism". Yeah, I think this is a perfect excuse if the GOP manages to steal the election AGAIN! They have nothing to fear from the dems, as Kerry proved when the Supreme Court did a coup de'tat after the last election. McCain and Palin could pull this off, while I hope I am wrong, it would not surprise me.
In Milwaukee in 2004 there were some 800 alledged voting "irregularities" which the republicans take to mean "800 people that were not allowed to vote voted democratic." In order to make sure that doesn't happen again they are trying to disallow thousands.
Here's what they've been up to.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=793566