Dirty, Devious, Nefarious, Awful, Dreadful, Horrible Thoughts I'm having

[Stinky The Clown]

about vote fraud and vote rigging.

It seems pretty clear that the current crop of BBV systems is such that hacking *can* happen, that the systems *are* vulnerable, and that they *may* have been manipulated in the 04 cycle.

What if some liberal, leftie, wack job with highly developed esoteric computer skills hacked a voting system and made the vote 100% for the Repub side? Not one single Dem vote. In a known Dem district. You know .... one of those gerrymandered districts that gives the vote to the Dem by 70% every time. Or maybe ...... like in DC, which consistently votes 80%+ Dem.

Ya think anybody would notice?

[Mandate My Ass]

1. They'd just say

See? The polls were wrong again. :shrug:

[DireStrike]

2. I had a better idea.

Hack the central tabulator for a large area, and give 100% of the vote to Mickey Mouse.

[Coexist]

3. I think someone would be arrested, and all evoting machines trashed

[Atman]

4. Then that is what it will take.

Unfortunately, the republicans will cling to any pie-in-the-sky excuse to explain away their illegal wins. All it takes is manipulation the polls, and thus the public, to show upper-40's for the republicans...then they can steal the elections and chalk it up to "exit polling," and all the sheep will line up and say "Baaaahhh!" But if it is so totally out of whack, like 100% for Mickey Mouse, they'll have to face the music. They won't, of course. They'll say that democrats are evil, and just because evil democrats hacked the system this time, doesn't mean the righteous repubs would ever consider such a thing.

[Coexist]

6. that someone would be the Abbie Hoffman of the Electoral Reform movement

and they would go to jail for it. A bad thing.

E-voting would be dead. A good thing.

Someone willing to sacrifice their future for the good of their country's democratic process can be viewed as either noble or dead wrong. Following the scandal would be an endless round of "do the ends justify the means" argument. Hacking the vote is shaky ground by either side.

Right now, we are screaming that ends don't justify the means (lying to get Saddam out) in Iraq - this would be viewed as hypocritical to those who wish to paint the left in a bad light.

[CrispyQ]

5. I'd hack in & make it give the true results.

Wouldn't they be surprised!