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TechnoratiHow to Stop the Rigging of Election '08
Don't be fooled by all the accusations about ACORN. The real voting scandal is the voter suppression methods that likely swayed election results in 2000 and 2004, and are in process again as you read this.
Most
of the news has focused on John McCain's accusations that ACORN is
perpetrating a major vote fraud. The problems with ACORNs work that
have surfaced involve registration, not voting. The truth is that
ACORN, a group that organizes poor people, has been registering record
numbers to vote: a jaw-dropping 1.3 million -- mostly low-income
people, people of color, and young people.
ACORN
readily admit that a tiny fraction of the 13,000 canvassers they hired
turned in faulty registrations. "If they had too many mistakes or
problems, we fired that person," Brian Mellor, senior counsel for Project Vote, said in an article in the New York Daily News.
But the organization has no choice about turning in the faulty forms;
most states require that every registration form filled out be handed
over to election officials. "I personally went to the office of the
Clark County [Nevada] board of elections in July and told them we're
bringing these forms in, we've separated the ones that have problems," he said.
"You should investigate and prosecute those you feel necessary. They
told us they weren't interested." Nevada state officials raided the
ACORN office in early October.
But there's little chance that these errors will result in improper voting on election day, much less affect outcomes. According to researcher Lorraine C. Minnite, of Columbia University, a total of 24 people, across the U.S., were found guilty of voter fraud between 2002 and 2005 -- an average of eight per year.
This video features ACORN leaders and others responding to the charges of election "fraud."This issue of voter fraud is a smokescreen designed to cover a much more serious issue with a long and ugly history: the suppression of the vote of groups that tend to vote Democratic -- especially the poor, minorities, and young people. Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said as much when I interviewed him last year.
In the current issue of Rolling Stone magazine, Greg Palast and Robert Kennedy Jr. show that thousands of voters have been disenfranchised in key swing states, dating back to the 2000 election, and continuing today. Techniques include purging voter registration rolls in targeted districts, challenging voters, requiring excessive identification, and discarding ballots.
There are also cases where heavily Democratic districts get few voting machines, resulting in long lines, while Republican precincts in the same county are well stocked, with no waiting to vote. Reports are already coming in of scare tactics repeated from the last two elections, especially flyers and posters warning that voters will be arrested at the polls if they have so much as an unpaid parking ticket.
Then there are the infamous black box voting machines, which, computer scientists warn, can't be secured or audited. There are already reports of voting machines in West Virginia flipping Obama votes to John McCain during early voting.
This country has a long and ugly history of suppressing the votes of minorities and poor people, and today's voter suppression tactics follow in that shameful tradition.
So what do we do protect the votes now that the election is just days away?
YES! Magazine is sending out an email to thousands of our readers entitled 12 Ways to Protect the Vote. Click on this link for simple things you can do, and forward on these simple instructions for safeguarding your vote.
Here are other resources available at the YES! website. Click here for information on:
- voting and how to make sure your vote gets counted.
- how you can help protect the integrity of this election.
- the threats to our elections -- and the solutions.
43 Comments so far
Show AllSometimes CD commenters are just as much patsies for the powerful, I can't believe it. The left falls to infighting over so much minutiae that it becomes ridiculous if it weren't so tragic and predictable.
Guess what? America isn't going to rise up an insurrection due to another stolen election. First of all, it would be foolhardy given the firepower of the government and the laws they have put in place to stop it dead in its tracks.
Whether conspiratory or not, the media, the police, the PEOPLE have no confidence in taking to the streets. We have been ignored for so long on that front - marginalized and criminalized that only the extremists go to marches. I know this - I'm an extremist too. Every time I've been to a march of any size, there are sides to be taken - too revolutionary, not peaceful enough, too mainstream, not loud enough, too ridiculous, not flamboyant...after 28 years of this, I know it is not effective.
Don't stop, but realize the puny impact even millions in the street make anymore. Only Seattle had impact in recent years, but it was fear and there have been repercussions against violent public demonstrations since then.
Second of all, most people in the US are moderate. They believe in peaceful changes of government. They have hope in Obama and he really is the only viable chance for any change. They are really nice people who want mostly to be left alone to make a living and raise families. Mostly.
They work to alleviate poverty and injustice, but through churches and small means. They really can't imagine the machinations of the powerful. They are lulled by daily beauty and peace at home. They won't rise up if it means a threat to their home and family. It really takes outrageous events to raise them out of their kitchens and living rooms. Things aren't openly outrageous yet.
The arc of history is in flux. There will be corrupt powers and there will be counter movements. It will take actual hunger and violence to move our population, not the threat of maybe.
So our first line of attack is the polls. We vote. We watch the vote. We DOCUMENT the vote. We have been shut down again and again by the neocon and corporate powers, they attack ACORN because it makes any accusation against them seem "political".
It is small individuals who dedicate themselves to chipping away at the wall to make it fall. Doing the right thing, being courageous. NOT NITPICKING each other for differences. That is the way that the darkness wins.
My favorite movie "Little Big Man" contains this wisdom from Old Lodge Skins:
Don't make war on the white man.
and
Endeavor to perservere.
In other words don't try to fight the powerful on their terms - you will be defeated. But keep on doing the right thing. Survive, grow, live to keep chipping away at the corruptive cancer of the power. We need you!
I am trying to follow some of the links in this article, but there seems to be a server outage affecting a lot of domain names right now (e.g. facebook, democracy.org, etc.) Given that the progressive community relies so heavily these days on Web communication (especially these final ten day before the election), what is the possibility that a targeted internet attack by neo-con operatives could figure in a larger scheme to steal the election? Anything being done to insure an open democratic Web?
I have those problems you mentioned, occasionally , and when I do I clean off my temp files,cookies and history. Then restart and proceed back to where I want to go. It usually works for me.
By the way, news media aren't reporting the vote flipping incidents specifically changing from Obama to McCain. They're just saying the names are being changed from the one the voter chose to the other candidate.
I would expect such vague and crappy reporting from the pathetic "news media" in this country. It's typical. However, this article gives more detail:
More W.Va. voters say machines are switching votes
In six cases, Democratic votes flipped to GOP
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200810180251
Excerpt:
WINFIELD, W.Va. -- Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week.
This is the second West Virginia county where voters have reported this problem. Last week, three voters in Jackson County told The Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for "Barack Obama" kept flipping to "John McCain".
In both counties, Republicans are responsible for overseeing elections. Both county clerks said the problem is isolated.
The ratbastard Republicans are at it again, already committing election fraud. Several people have reported voting for Obama and then the computer screen spontaneously switches the vote to McCain's name.
They were allowed to get away with it at least twice during the last two presidential elections. Now they figure they're entitled to have a permanent Republican president now and forever more.
Uh huh. And there are those who say that this is nothing more than:
It's just a little "misalignment"
OR
a "flaw" that occurs
OR
"poorly calibrated machines set up by incompetent technicans or overworked technicians from setting up so many machines."
That's all. No big deal.
I swear, the Denial of some people to try and excuse this shit! Haven't they learned YET to put NOTHING past the illegitimate Bush regime based on what we have seen them do since 2000?!
If you want to know who is going to win, contact Diebold, the fascist manufacturer and maintainer of voting machines.
Anyone surprised by this:
Early Voting Sees Reports of Voter Intimidation, Machine Malfunctions
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/22/votes
Vote flipping on one of these machines does not neccessarily mean foul play. There's a calibration that must be done to line up the sensors on the touch screen to the lines being drawing on the display screen. If these get misaligned, then it can appear as if you tap on one name, but another is selected.
Yes, this is a way you could steal votes. But its incredibly clumsy and obvious and I doubt anyone with any competence would do it this way. Why given the victim of the vote theft visual evidence on the screen of the flipped vote, when instead you could just switch it internally and never let them know. Or better yet, steal the votes later on the vote COUNTING computer.
So, this should be watched for. It is a flaw that can occur on these machines. And it should certainly be pointed out to election officials. And it should be investigated just to make sure its not foul play. There are incompetent crooks of course. But its more likely that its just a poorly calibrated machine set up by an incompetent technician ... or one who's just overworked setting up too many machines before the election.
----------------------------
"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
www.samsonsworld.blogspot.com
"Vote flipping on one of these machines does not neccessarily mean foul play."
Oh that's so true. Oh yes oh yes I agree. Totally agree. Vote flipping didn't mean "foul play" in 2000 or 2004 either. People get real. Stop this stuff about stolen elections. It was just a little "misalignment" or a "flaw that occurred" in 2004 and 2000. That's all. Just "poorly calibrated machines set up by incompetent technicans or overworked technicians from setting up so many machines." Oh so true. So true. You'll see. No need to get all upset. People really did elect a total moron for the White House TWICE. He's legit, no question about it. That's all.
UGH. What nonsense!
The fact is: The Bush regime uses EVERY way possible to steal elections. They don't just rely on one way.
People who think this election will be stolen from Obama are delusional.
Lots of big money donors have contributed a lot of money to make Obama president. That's the real power in this country. Up until the delusions of the election season took over people's minds, most people knew Bush was just a puppet. He never was the real power in the country. It was the money that came in and propped him up and made him President that was the real power.
This year, that money switched to Obama. Heck, we're even seeing the amazing sight of a Republican campaign running on public-financing while the Democrats have $450 million in contributions. That just screams that the big money that had similarly pumped hundreds of millions into the Bush campaigns have switched this time to Obama.
So, do you really think that the powerful people who've plucked Obama from being an obscure Ill. state senator, put him on a fast track to the White House and who've pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into the campaign to make him President are going to sit back and let their previous puppet steal the election?
If you understand where the power in this country really lies, you'd realize that this just ain't gonna happen.
----------------------------
"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
www.samsonsworld.blogspot.com
"People who think this election will be stolen from Obama are delusional."
Can you show us any proof that the "election" is not going to be stolen, when voting machines are already flipping votes TO REPUG. Listen to DemocracyNow! I gave the link previously.
"If you understand where the power in this country really lies, you'd realize that this just ain't gonna happen."
Really? I'll believe it when I see it. The "powerful people" you're speaking of don't control the easily-hackable voting machines. The neocons control the voting machines. Obama's "powerful people" would also have to realize that the election was stolen to begin with. Have they thought that the last 2 were stolen or did they believe that 2000/04 were legit? That's the one problem with your scenario. Secondly, I don't think that Bush/Cheney give a fuk what Obama's "powerful people" think. Bush/Cheney et al have their own Project for the New American Century agenda which does not necessarily include Obama's "powerful people."
Sam October 23rd, 2008 3:15 pm:
“The fact is protests in this country have gotten smaller as time has passed since 2000.”
Are you getting these facts from the mainstream broadcast and print media? If so, they are suspect. They consistently undercount numbers in a further effort to marginalize those who do take part as the “lunatic fringe”. February 13th 2003, New York City, there were close to a million protesters. The msm reported that there were just a few thousand. The rest of your posts I agree with. I wish it weren't so...
OK, yes, lets say there were a million protesters in NYC in 2003. The point made is that they are getting smaller. So, name for me the bigger protests in NYC that have occured since 2003 to prove the point you are trying to make.
----------------------------
"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
www.samsonsworld.blogspot.com
"Are you getting these facts from the mainstream broadcast and print media?"
No. I don't pay any attention to what the corporate media tell us. They are just spokesliars for the Bush regime.
I have taken part in all the major anti-war protests in my major city and I've seen them get smaller and smaller.
How about you?
As someone else who goes to protests sometimes, I think its rather obvious that they have gotten smaller. I'm kinda surprised anyone would disagree.
I take this as an indication that most people are smart enough to know that these protests can't possibly change anything.
Its clear that neither party is listening, and that neither party has any intention of doing anything the protesters want. The media don't cover them. And they are all tame, permitted marches that wind through empty cities on the weekend. They pose no threat and in no way even slightly disrupt the war.
Most people are smart enough to know that going to one of these on a Saturday is not in any way going to change the world on the following Monday.
That doesn't mean people don't oppose what's going on. Polls show opposition to the war up in the 70% range. And if there was ever a march or a movement that really looked like it could change things, then they'd show up in big numbers to make it happen.
----------------------------
"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
www.samsonsworld.blogspot.com
Also, the numbers for the last "National Protest" in the District of Columbia were way down from the first one held.
If this election is stolen again, we all must take arms against this sea of troubles.
Ever since 2000, I have heard all of this threatening tough talk about hitting the streets, but that's all it is: Talk. The fact is protests in this country have gotten smaller as time has passed since 2000. More and more people are tuning out. Can't be bothered. The obese public is more interested in American Idol than what piece of trash ends up in the White House. Things will have to get much, much, much worse for The People to get in the streets to protest the stolen 2008 "election." I was told to "get over it" following 2000 when I protested. No one protested 2004. John Kerry couldn't concede quickly enough. Neocon Walk on Water Obama's campaign is as pathetic and weak/lame as Kerry's so I suspect in John Kerry style Obama will concede quickly as well. A few people MAY protest the stolen 2008 "election" (if there is one) and they could/will be rounded up, tasered and thrown in to some of the new concentration camps Halliburton has built. The Dead Democratic Party will remain silent, as per usual, about any small group of protesters rounded up and the trashing of the US Constitution.
So all this tough talk on here about hitting the streets should this thing be stolen (to me it's a given that is will be), I see it as just hot air. Because I've heard all of this tough talk about what "we" will do so many times before and nothing ever comes of it. If there are protests in two weeks, I'll believe it when I see it.
This is somewhat off-topic, but the Latino pro-immigration protests in Los Angeles have been huge in the last year or so. Tremendously large. I was glad to see that. Right-on Latinos! Gracias. But even with the pro-immigration protests, the last one I saw from Los Angeles looked smaller to me from what the cameras showed from above (and I watch the Spanish language networks).
That one came after the violent incidents (of the protest before). It seems that all that has to happen is that the cops crack down (as they did in Los Angeles when they were beating protesters and media personnel and their cameras) and that scares many people away in the future.
It's not just "us", you know. There are a lot of African Americans, including on this board, but when you bemoan the lack of activism, you're likely thinking of middle class whites. An old 60s alliance may reassert itself if the black vote is stolen. This time the neocons are taking on a much bigger constituency, and one not (as) riddled with pacifists........
Well, the African Americans (some) have been part of the anti-war protest groups since 2000 and those protests have gotten smaller and smaller in number. The neocons are not necessarily dealing with pacifists now, but rather APATHETIC people regardless of ethnicity. Still, I'll believe it when I see it. There could be small protests in some major cities by African Americans but it would require MILLIONS and MILLIONS, not small protests. How could the protests be dealt with?...
Is Posse Comitatus Dead? US Troops on US Streets
In a barely noticed development, a US Army unit is now training for domestic operations under the control of US Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command. An initial news report in the Army Times newspaper last month noted that in addition to emergency response the force “may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control.” The military has since claimed the force will not be used for civil unrest, but questions remain. We speak to Army Col. Michael Boatner, future operations division chief of USNORTHCOM, and Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive magazine.
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/7/us_army_denies_unit_will_be
I also meant to say that in the big scheme of things (number of people) the number of people on here and on other so-called "progressive" message forums/websites is a very small group. Most of the public are not on here, in other words. So any protests that were to materialize (versus being hot air talk as per usual) would be very small groups in the big scheme of things. When the sheep hear that McCain has been selected, they will say "I'm whatever...now what time is that TV show on I wanted to watch. I hope all this goddamn election coverage is over by then. Who cares about any of this shit?"
I always love the people who come out here and basically just try to tell us that we are all doomed and that we shouldn't even be trying to resist because we can't win.
The one way to be sure of losing is to refuse to struggle.
----------------------------
"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
www.samsonsworld.blogspot.com
But that's NOT what I said. That's what you think I said. Somehow. I don't know how you came up with THAT interpretation from what I said.
In my previous comment, I wrote a description of how many (most?) people will respond because that's how I have seen them respond since 2000. It's the reality. If they had responded differently than I had described, we would not be where we are today whatsoever. I never said that people should refuse to struggle. You just made that up. I have never said that. Never. My point was that most people (the sheep) are not going to do that (struggle/resist) until things get much worse despite any big tough talk to the contrary on here or anywhere else.
If this election is stolen, we **all** need to show up in DC. I rooted on those who did so in 2000, but I didn't take an 8 hour trip out of concerns with my job. If it happens again, time number 3!, a job can't be an excuse. In 10 more years of this stuff, that will be the most short sighted damning-us-all strategy imaginable. So, let's commit. If they steal it, hit the streets. Everyone.
I'm in!
Both in 2000 and 2004 there was no significant challenge to the vote. Though Gore did mount a challenge, he withdrew too soon, for the sake of our country and supporting the office of president. Kerry did not mount a challenge at all.
If the handwriting is indeed on the wall, then I expect this election to become the opportunity for a leader of change like Obama, and the passionate citizenship to mount a real challenge - but beware, this could also lead to precisely the kind of civil unrest that "requires" Bush to invoke the powers he has signed into law for his imperial rule.
What "challenge" did Gore "mount" (aside from Tipper)? I must've been absent from reality that day, because I recall watching Gore presiding over a Senate vote screwing himself.
Only a Dem apologist would claim that letting George W. Bush steal an election was somehow "for the good of the country!"
McCain will win for the simple reason that Republicans cheat. While they do a great job campaigning, Republicans sure can not govern worth a damn.
"I am not George W. Bush" John McCain says. As if this statement relieves him of any responsibility to the USA being a mess due to Republican governance. Since when it is not ok in the USA to judge someone based on their beliefs or ideologies?
If the Republicans fix the presidential election for a third straight time, then only unrelenting action in the streets, day after day, with no stop, will have any effect. Obama should never concede and should make it as clear as possible that McCain is a fraud. The Democrats in congress, cowards that they have proven themselves to be, will probably do nothing and cave in to McCain. Only ordinary citizens will have any possibility of stopping this slide toward an American Reich.
There have been at least---if I remember correctly---three National Strike days in the last 2 or 3 years. They were all failures. All 3 of them. Why? Because most people went to work, IF they had even heard about the national strikes to begin with. Therefore, if most people won't take even ONE day off to take part in a National Strike, how on Earth do you think that (most) people will stay in the streets "day after day, with no stop?" Also, the National Strikes were during the days when the economy was much better than it is now.
What you wrote is what *should* happen, but it's wishful-thinking. I don't see it being at all realistic. Obama make it "as clear as possible" that McCain is a fraud? Yeah right. Bush is a fraud (he was never legitimately elected) and I haven't heard Walk on Water Obama say that Bush is a fraud. In fact, his voting record shows otherwise. Obama has served as an accomplice to the Fraud in the White House. Obama will likely do another "John Kerry."
The "ordinary citizens" aren't going to do anything other than sit on their ass watching television and eating "junk food." When the masses can't get $$ out of the bank for food and rent/mortgage and can't watch television and drive to the mall in their big-assed gas-guzzling SUV, THEN things may start to change towards what needs to happen. But until that time, I don't see it happening.
Just so ya know... a daily demonstation of public unrest is EXACTLY the thing Bush signed Presidential Directive 51 for. To prevent the people from exercising thier human rights and freedoms as guaranteed by the US Constitution. And if you think John 'Bomb Bomb' McCain and Caribou Barbie will not turn on the US populace like a pair of rabid pitbulls going after a helpless toddler, you better think again.
This is going to have to go beyond demonstrations.
It WILL have to be a general public insurection and revolution.
Best of luck.
Walk in peace.
Any insurrection and revolution will be a very bloody one, with the new arsenal of weapons they now have for crowd control. This would be the perfect time for them to try them all out. And the gates of the Haliburton prisons will be wide open and waiting. Guess it's good that not very many will know what they're heading into.
Now I know why Halliburton has built the prisons and why the Northern Command military troops were brought over from Iraq --- to control and imprison anyone who dares to protest against another stolen election by the Republicans.
If the obese and drugged Americans (drugs in the drinking water) would get up off the couch and skip one or two "American Idol" and sports on TV, democracy might have a chance. Being uninformed and apathetic is a tragedy at this time in our country.
I agree that Obama should never concede as it's obvious he is ahead of McInsane, and that we shouldn't expect the Democrats in Congress to help deal with another stolen election.
"This is going to have to go beyond demonstrations....It WILL have to be a general public insurection and revolution."
Uh huh. Exactly. And the obese "American" public couldn't even walk one city block without having to stop to catch their breath and/or need to sit or take a cigarette break. Just walking out to their vehicle is a struggle for many of them. So how in hell are people going to take to the streets in massive numbers? They're not. Other than the (maybe) 30-100 people on here and I'll believe THAT when I see it. Most of the public wouldn't even conceive of taking to the streets. They would say, "Oh, I can't do that. No. I have to go to work tomorrow. You'll have to find somebody else. And taking to these streets is what those weird protesters do that I've seen on television. No I don't want any part of that. That's un-American and un-patriotic. The guy on Fox News said that too so it's got to be true."
Indeed, "they" will keep pushing further toward the absurd until this happens. They are actually surprised how far they have been able to push already. But will the backlash be just a reawakening of the American Spirit, or will it also be the opportunity for "them" to seize control, in order to restore civil order and continue business as usual???
"They hate us for our freedoms." - George W. Bush.
Fair warning: between the early indications that this election will be stolen too, and the early MSM positioning of a 'surprise come from behind' victory for McCain, the writing is already on the wall that this election WILL be stolen. Just like in 2000 and 2004.
Don't you remember that Gore was a shoe in? That Kerry would easily win?
What happened both times?
A coup took place in 2000, people.
And you let it happen.
Now you get to live with the result. An immanent facist dictatorship that will grind you into the dust as the economy collapses.
i agree that this has been a coup that is poised to fully transform into a fascist dictatorship.
This is something that does not get addressed by the argument that the Democrats and Republicans are the same. If they are "the same" then why do the ruthless thugs who have risen to the top of the Republican machine believe it is so important to game the system at all costs?
And when they do complete the transition to a more naked form of rule...
The elites employ the two parties to divide/conquer the people, setting up battles over irrelevant issues to keep the people from uniting against the elites' class war aggression. So the elites delight in fueling the battles even though they're fake.
I guess you are unfamiliar with the illegal and unethical actions that "the thugs who have risen to the top of the [Democratic] Party" use to "game the system," and worse. Go here for the ugly details:
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
DEMOCRATIC PARTY SUED FOR ANTI-DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGN TO ILLEGALLY REMOVE THIRD PARTIES FROM BALLOT.
http://www.newjerseyuntouchables.blogspot.com/
Here is another...
http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/press.aspx?id=3771
July 10, 2008
Attorney General Corbett announces charges in legislative bonus investigation - 12 suspects charged in 1st phase of the investigation
.................
In Pensylvania, Democrats, during the 2004 election ,pulled illegal dirty tricks to keep Ralph Nader from getting votes.
Finally justice prevails and their tactics are EXPOSED.
.