RFK JR's Will The Next Election Be Hacked? (Full Rolling Stone Article)

[kpete]

Will The Next Election Be Hacked?
Fresh disasters at the polls -- and new evidence from an industry insider -- prove that electronic voting machines can't be trusted
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6



>>Post your thoughts about the threats to fair voting, in the National Affairs blog. Plus, read Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Was the 2004 Election Stolen?" -- his report on Republican methods for keeping more than 350,000 Ohio voters from casting ballots or having their votes counted.
The debacle of the 2000 presidential election made it all too apparent to most Americans that our electoral system is broken. And private-sector entrepreneurs were quick to offer a fix: Touch-screen voting machines, promised the industry and its lobbyists, would make voting as easy and reliable as withdrawing cash from an ATM. Congress, always ready with funds for needy industries, swiftly authorized $3.9 billion to upgrade the nation's election systems - with much of the money devoted to installing electronic voting machines in each of America's 180,000 precincts. But as midterm elections approach this November, electronic voting machines are making things worse instead of better. Studies have demonstrated that hackers can easily rig the technology to fix an election - and across the country this year, faulty equipment and lax security have repeatedly undermined election primaries. In Tarrant County, Texas, electronic machines counted some ballots as many as six times, recording 100,000 more votes than were actually cast. In San Diego, poll workers took machines home for unsupervised "sleepovers" before the vote, leaving the equipment vulnerable to tampering. And in Ohio - where, as I recently reported in "Was the 2004 Election Stolen?" , dirty tricks may have cost John Kerry the presidency - a government report uncovered large and unexplained discrepancies in vote totals recorded by machines in Cuyahoga County.

Even worse, many electronic machines don't produce a paper record that can be recounted when equipment malfunctions - an omission that practically invites malicious tampering. "Every board of election has staff members with the technological ability to fix an election," Ion Sancho, an election supervisor in Leon County, Florida, told me. "Even one corrupt staffer can throw an election. Without paper records, it could happen under my nose and there is no way I'd ever find out about it. With a few key people in the right places, it would be possible to throw a presidential election."

read the whole thing at:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/11717105/robert_f_kennedy_jr__wil
or:
http://www.hoffmania.com/blog/2006/09/rfk_jrs_call_to.html

[Imagevision]

1. Key words, "wide spread rumors of electronic voting problems"

the day of the election

[Kurovski]

2. K&R!

That was fast!

Edit: I wonder if they're getting flooded with hits? It took a long time to load.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

3. The Repubs Already Have It Sewn Up

Anybody who thinks the Dems have a chance at either house, don't be too disappointed in November when it doesn't happen.

The repubs have WAY TOO MUCH at stake to let a few measly votes stand in their way. They will fix it just enough to maintain control and power, while letting the pathetic Dems think they have achieved a short-term gain. It won't be enough to stop King george's agenda though, and the repubs will still control the dictatorship for at least another 2 years, during which they can work on FIXING the '08 election to suit their purposes.

[tblue]

5. They will park cars all day at the polling places in Dem precincts so our

voters can't park. We need to be there and have those cars TOWED! They will do what they did last time but on a broader scale. But we know this in advance.

IT'S NOT TOO LATE FOR US. Whatever you do, please do not discourage Democrats from voting. We need exit polls in our favor. All of us should sign up to be pollworkers or pollwatchers. We have to mobilize.

They think the election is too important to leave it up to the voting public. A nasty buncha people Republicans are.

[Kurovski]

4. Call your representatives and demand emergency paper ballots for November!

Send the article to your reps with the demand for paper ballots.

The machines make it 100% IMPOSSIBLE to trust the election results. No if's and's or but's.

This is absolutely insane.

[Kurovski]

9. Read more about emergency paper ballots here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2181153

[texpatriot2004]

14. What Representative? There is no Representative there. nm

[Kurovski]

6. Rolling Stone needs to edit page four, they repeat a few paragraphs

three times.

Or maybe it's so we memorize the info?:-)

[yowzayowzayowza]

7. Yummy!

Thx. K&R

[Kurovski]

8. The last paragraph is great.

"You do not have to believe in conspiracy theories to fear for the integrity of our electoral system: The right to vote is simply too important - and too hard won - to be surrendered without a fight. It is time for Americans to reclaim our democracy from private interests."

Amen.

[earth mom]

10. K & R! And as suggested by blm in another thread...

BUY a copy! Read it and then leave it somewhere! :bounce:

[Kurovski]

11. Kick!

:kick:

[bobbolink]

12. Thanks for the notice! I really appreciate RFK on this!

I'm afraid it won't get enough of the attention it deserves, but I'm glad he's keeping at it.

Any idea why he waited so long on this?

It's not like much can be done at this point....

Thanks again for posting this!

[Kurovski]

13. The thread announcing the article

is more popular than the actual article? :wtf: :D

Where is everyone?:-)

[Land Shark]

15. Uncritical promotion of "paper trails" as solution disappoints however

good the general effect of another article is. It's a public service overall, but I just wish that the Brennan report (cited in the RS article) with its clear indication of easy ways in which paper trails are overcome, would at least be pointed to as an issue. Only a small percentage check the paper trail just like a small percentage actually check their receipt at the grocery store....