READER COMMENTS ON

"The Pennsylvania Primary: Democracy of the Gods"

(37 Responses so far...)





COMMENT #1 [Permalink]

... ruth matheny said on 4/21/2008 @ 10:19 am PT...





April 21, 2008 This is the unedited and modified version of the letter toour local newspaper, the Intelligencer, Doylestown, Bucks County, Pa.,printed today. See the italicized remarkes for the unedited thoughts that especially reflect my experience as voting integrity activist. It’s a long letter; I’m appreciative to Intell for publishing most of it.

I present it to Brad Blog as an example, State and Nationwide of what we can do as voting activists to inform our local communities. ..something to keep in mind for November Presidential election.

-------------------------------------------

Letter to Editor:

For this important Primary, all over the State,, ‘get out the vote’ by encouraging others to vote in large numbers. If there are unseen unknown problems with the computerized voting, your candidate will be more likely to win if there are large numbers of votes for him/her to overcome a possible error rate of the machine’s software. As a Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Judge of Elections and voting integrity advocate I offer some suggestions for Election Day, especially for newly registered voters who need to take ID, such as your signed voter registration card, or driver’s license or utility bill. Returning voters don’t need ID. Your signature, matching your signature on record, serves as proof of your identity. Danaher voting machines are used in my county of Bucks as well as the following Pennsylvania Counties: Philadelphia, Dauphin, Berks,Monroe, Delaware and state of Delaware. In the voting booth for the Danaher machine, you will see red blinking lights for each candidate. Upon choosing your selection, the red blinking lights of your choices will turn solid red. When all your selections are made, then push the large green VOTE button. Most importantly, be sure the screen then goes blank. You are now finished voting. However, if you leave, without pressing that green vote button at the end, your selections are still on the screen and are to be erased by the workers! To cast a write-in vote, follow written instructions inside booth and ask pollworkers for instructions. In this process, don’t push on the write-in door slot to get to the paper tape, since this could cause machine to malfunction or paper to jam. Don’t write in the name of a candidate already on the ballot. If any problem is observed with machine malfunctions, or long lines or other problems, or for even simple questions, speak to your Judge of Elections and report any problem to both the national Election Protection line:1-866-OUR-VOTE and locally, call Mary Ann Gould Director of Coalition for Voting Integrity at 215-357-5206.. Polls are open 7 am to 8 pm.,Tuesday, April 22. We the people can shape our future, if we participate in civic activities, starting with the vote. As Ben Franklin admonishes us from our past- it’s our Republic if we can keep it. Ruth Matheny

Co Director. Coalition for Voting Integrity

www.coalitionforvotingintegrity.org

www.voiceofthevoters.org

Judge of Elections, Doylestown Boro 2-2

COMMENT #2 [Permalink]

... Floridiot said on 4/21/2008 @ 12:07 pm PT...





What's the matter? says the elected official, just plug the machine in, the BPL Gods will take care of the rest

COMMENT #3 [Permalink]

... GWN said on 4/21/2008 @ 1:03 pm PT...





Yes Floridiot. A comment some time ago by SevenString (C&L) said it all so well. "An e-voting machine is like my bowels: they both generally appear to run smoothly, and their resultant outputs have about the same intrinsic value." Thanks SevenString, where ever you are, for the best quote ever regarding DRE's.

COMMENT #4 [Permalink]

... Agent 99 said on 4/21/2008 @ 1:19 pm PT...





I beg to differ! At least shit fertilizes crops!

COMMENT #5 [Permalink]

... Floridiot said on 4/21/2008 @ 1:20 pm PT...





GWN, With all of the talk about wireless networking to gain access to the machines, or even network cables plugged into ethernet ports hidden on the machines, Why not just use the power cord & plug that is plugged into a standard AC outlet on the wall to gain access? E-Line/BPL networking

COMMENT #6 [Permalink]

... MontcoVoter said on 4/21/2008 @ 1:48 pm PT...





The Montgomery County machines are not the same touchscreens as you think. While they are Sequoia machines, they are the older chiclet-lighted button style.

COMMENT #7 [Permalink]

... Patricia Ress said on 4/21/2008 @ 2:14 pm PT...





No voting machine is reliable! I live in Nebraska, and a few years ago we had republicans winning 5,000 votes in towns with only 2,000 people!LOL!Not only that but districts that had NEVER gone for a republican suddenly did so in overwhelming numbers! And what do we have? An unjustified war started by an inside job terrorist attack,laws that favor billionaires and designed to totally destroy the middle class!And a supreme court that makes certain that Bush gets everything he wants! Democracy? Hardly! Several thousand people leave the US every month! Now I know why!And martial law is staring us in the face!

COMMENT #8 [Permalink]

... jacksmith said on 4/21/2008 @ 2:46 pm PT...





{Ed Note: jacksmith wants you to read this, and jacksmith please read this. Thank you. --99}

COMMENT #9 [Permalink]

... alanborky said on 4/21/2008 @ 2:50 pm PT...





Hopefully Robert Mugabe's reading this and, with the help of DRE, democracy can finally truly take off in Zimbabwe. Then, with the likes of the US and the UK closely following his example a true golden age, the likes of which's never been known to humanity, can finally come to realisation. In fact, things'll become so wonderful our glorious leaders'll eventually decide to spare us the tedium involved in choosing candidates by devising algorithms that'll do this for us. Then, finally, they'll simply dispense with all forms of voting at all. By the way, lest it isn't perfectly obvious, I am, of course, being utterly sarcastic.

COMMENT #10 [Permalink]

... Despair said on 4/21/2008 @ 3:04 pm PT...





If you think Hillary has 'experience' by virtue of being married to that fraud from Arkansas then you really are an idiot, and no 'you might be' about it. The fact that this mega-rich, dishonest, power hungry, utterly venal sow is being treated as though she were a serious candidate has destroyed what little faith I still had in my fellow citizens. God help us! Critical thinking is dead.The Clinton's have accrued 109 MILLION DOLLARS in the past 8 years, and yet you honestly think she's going to represent the interests of the working class!? PS You are an idiot.

COMMENT #11 [Permalink]

... Bob Young said on 4/21/2008 @ 3:20 pm PT...





If you think Republicans are voting for Obama in places like Ohio were Hillary’s vote counts often exceeded the total number of registered Democrats by large margins then you absolutely have to be an idiot. With it being a felony for Republicans to vote in the Democratic primary in Ohio there clearly were very many Republicans committing felonies to vote for Hillary or there were a lot of votes manufactured for Hillary in Ohio. Those NeoCons, who are into manufacturing votes big time, are I believe also from the Republican party as well.

COMMENT #12 [Permalink]

... Floridiot said on 4/21/2008 @ 3:37 pm PT...





Now I know there's something fishy about BPL.

If Kevin Martin likes it, I don't FCC chief Kevin Martin said that "holds great promise as a ubiquitous broadband solution that would offer a viable alternative to cable, digital subscriber line, fiber, and wireless broadband solutions," and that BPL was one of the agency's "top priorities". Link @ #5

COMMENT #13 [Permalink]

... bert said on 4/21/2008 @ 4:14 pm PT...





think: "DEMOCRACY..WITHOUT BORDERS" Israel: "a democracy".."without borders"

COMMENT #14 [Permalink]

... Chi0ne said on 4/21/2008 @ 5:04 pm PT...





My condolences to those that actually think that your vote means anything. This is their game and they make the rules. We need to wake up and quit playing their game. All we do is wear ourselves out because we are really only fighting each other.

COMMENT #15 [Permalink]

... TutRyanFarkus said on 4/21/2008 @ 5:22 pm PT...





I agree with Chi0ne. The best thing you can do to peacefully protest is don't show up to vote. Don't play the game. Start a movement. Hand out flyers that say "Don't vote! It's rigged." It's just like the war game: wise up and don't show up. I'll betcha the rich people won't show up to fight.

COMMENT #16 [Permalink]

... karen said on 4/21/2008 @ 5:35 pm PT...





the worst thing u can do to protest the blackboxes is to stop voting....when voters show up in huge numbers and the programs have to "change" results is when they get "impossible" numbers

the ovr 100 percent districts r the best chance we have of proving that we need paper ballots

COMMENT #17 [Permalink]

... Agent 99 said on 4/21/2008 @ 5:40 pm PT...





Goddammit! THAT'S WHAT THEY WANT! They want us not voting! Some protest that is! Get out and vote! MAKE THOSE MISERABLE CRIMINALS STEAL YOUR VOTE. MAKE THEM STEAL THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS AND HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS, MILLIONS, OF VOTES TO GET THEIR WAY! If you are an American, act like one! Vote.

COMMENT #18 [Permalink]

... truthisall said on 4/21/2008 @ 6:37 pm PT...





http://www.geocities.com...lvaniaHistoricalVote.htm Pennsylvania: “Trust us to count your vote, even though you can’t verify it” TruthIsAll The GOP wants to run against Clinton because they believe she’s a weaker candidate than Obama. Just look at the polls: Obama does much better than HRC against McCain. But the GOP vote counters will make sure that Hillary gets enough votes in PA to keep her super delegate hopes alive. And since they control the unverifiable machine count, who will question the result? Even if the pre-election and exit polls indicate a close race, those who control the machines and count the votes will sit back and watch the show- just like they have since 2000. They know there will be no recount; there’s nothing to recount. Only electronic voting machines will be used in this election. Paper ballots? How quaint to want to see that the votes are fairly counted in full view. The politicians and the media have revised the old saying. It’s now “Trust, but don’t expect to verify”. No one will talk about 2008 primary election fraud, except for a handful of activists, like Michael Collins (autorank) and Brad Blog. And as usual, the media and the politicians will just go along with the myth that late undecided voters broke for Hillary; that young Obama supporters didn’t vote; that Obama’s clock was cleaned in that ABC farce of a debate. The bought and paid for moderators asked Obama about his lapel and Reverend Wright, but they didn’t ask Clinton about husband Bill’s lucrative free-trade work for Columbia and his full-court NAFTA press. Historically, Democratic presidential candidates have always fared better in the exit polls than the recorded vote. That’s because the Republicans cheat in every election– and they will in this one. In 2004, the exit polls had Kerry winning PA by 55-44; the recorded vote was 50.9-48.4, far exceeding the 2% margin of error. His 11 point margin shrank to 3%. Kerry won 58.6% of the final 127,000 votes (absentees, etc.). Only about 2000 PA voters were exit polled. The MoE is exceedingly low. So how could Kerry exceed his 51.1% share of the first 5643k votes by 7.5% in the final 127k? Here’s why: The final 127k votes came in days after the election ended. The fraud spigot was turned off by then. But PA was not alone; the MoE was also exceeded in 28 other states. Move along, nothing to see. In 2000, Gore won PA by 51-46. Remember that Nader took votes away from Gore, so Al would have won by more than 5% if Nader had not run. But those returning Nader voters broke for Kerry by better than 3-1, so how did Kerry do worse than Gore in PA?

COMMENT #19 [Permalink]

... Ancient said on 4/21/2008 @ 6:41 pm PT...





If fast eddy says he doesn't know of the dre voting problems he is flat out lying. I have him on video, where I explain them to him, and he states that at this point (before 06 election) its really a money crunch problem! I moved this year and the video is somewhere in one of my basement boxes, as well as the entire Harrisburg FCC hearing about media consolidation. I've been looking but haven't found them yet, but believe me, I've got him on tape!

COMMENT #20 [Permalink]

... Dredd said on 4/21/2008 @ 7:04 pm PT...





Hell yes vote! But remember that those who count the votes decide ... until we decide to take them out. And enventually we will if they continue to screw us in glee. Government should fear the people, the people should not fear the government. The Amurkan movie they parade before us is such a lame piece of shit.

COMMENT #21 [Permalink]

... justadood said on 4/21/2008 @ 7:55 pm PT...





just saw this on CNet, from a CS 'professor' at Carnegie-Mellon (outside Pittsburg). Either he's quaffing the Kool-aid, or the paranoiac in me thinks he's a Republican out to suppress the Vote...

COMMENT #22 [Permalink]

... Linda said on 4/21/2008 @ 8:12 pm PT...





I am so sorry, Pennsylvania. You have got to get rid of those machines as a way that most/all voters vote. I am a poll worker in California, and we have to have one of those machines per precinct for those voters who would be unable to vote seretly without them. At neither of the two precincts at the polling place where I work are any votes cast on these machines, ever. They are there because election law says they have to be. I set my machine up, and then I take it down, for every single election, even though nobody uses it. I have to attend a special training for every single election on how to work with these machines. You need to get your wonderful state to this point, where voters simply do not use them. There is no point working through the national/state legislative systems. Your legislators do not care about how you view these machines, or how they are a threat to our democracy. They only care that the lobbyists who work for the companies who manufacture and market these machines contribute to their legislative campaigns. I am sorry it is like this, but this is the reality we are up against. Do whatever you have to do to get voters in your state to reject these machines. That is the only way to go. Oh, and contribute to Brad Friedman's blog, because he is one of only a few people in America who are on to this electronic voting machine scam.

COMMENT #23 [Permalink]

... Linda said on 4/21/2008 @ 8:22 pm PT...





Sorry, but I just watched the Why Tuesday videoclip after I wrote my last post. Here's what I got out of that videoclip: As long as they are getting elected by voters who use these machines, THEY DON'T CARE. They will not challenge the integrity of these machines. Can you see how insidious these machines are?!!! BTW, Why Tuesday is a great site. I link to it at my site, and Jacob does a great job with it.

COMMENT #24 [Permalink]

... Pat #1 said on 4/21/2008 @ 8:51 pm PT...





Well imagine my complete lack of surprise. Could I have stood in the same spot last year and predicted we would be right here, just like this? God damn it. I don't mean to sound like an ass but this country deserves what it gets. That is the price for eternal apathy.

COMMENT #25 [Permalink]

... Grizzly Bear Dancer said on 4/21/2008 @ 8:52 pm PT...





A total BUSHIT SYSTEM that will produce BUSHIT RESULTS.

COMMENT #26 [Permalink]

... the zapkitty said on 4/22/2008 @ 5:24 am PT...





... justadood said in #21... "just saw this on CNet, from a CS 'professor' at Carnegie-Mellon (outside Pittsburg). Either he's quaffing the Kool-aid..." Unfortunately Shamos is one of a limited class of CS academics who cannot be reasoned with in regards to any form of e-voting... and Shamos is the guy who accidentally hacked a DRE at a public hearing, generating thousands of untraceable false votes without even trying. And yet, still, for him and similiar ivory tower types it's e-voting or no voting...

COMMENT #27 [Permalink]

... Floridiot said on 4/22/2008 @ 5:38 am PT...





I didn't read all of [that long one], Isn't that one of those "if you send me money I can afford to get my fortune released and split it with you" scams?

COMMENT #28 [Permalink]

... Floridiot said on 4/22/2008 @ 5:50 am PT...





I read that too Zapper (good to see you) Professor Sham-os or Shame-os is all I get out of him, what a naive piece of work he is. As soon as voting went electronic, Democracy was dead IMO

COMMENT #29 [Permalink]

... socrates said on 4/22/2008 @ 6:12 am PT...





The thing about people who don't vote, is that they either don't care that people don't vote, or they are in a situation where their vote doesn't matter. I am in Massachusetts. I voted for Nader one year because it was obvious the Democratic would take the state. But I did realise that I would never have voted for Nader if I was in Florida. Is Hertzberg of ESI AnonymousArmy of DailyCIAKos? AnonymousArmy admitted to being involved with scamdy.com. That website was hosted by Abacus America Inc.. If one investigates Hertzberg's domains, they lead one again to Abacus America Inc.. John Dean posted: Here is the original WHOIS info for scamdy.com from 6/3/05: Domain servers in listed order:

ns1.abac.com 216.55.128.4 here is original WHOIS info for anonymousarmy.com from 6/3/05: Domain servers in listed order:

ns1.abac.com 216.55.128.4

... AnonymousArmy posted: really? you only know that because I was honest enough to tell you I sent them to my old hosting company you disingenuous piece of crap... If one goes to the whois for Hertzberg's heartmountaingroup.com, they will no longer see an ip address or any reference to Abacus America Inc.. But I screensaved the whois from way back. I screensaved a lot, because as soon as Hertzberg was exposed at BreakForDisinfoNews, he started scrubbing and pruning his internet activities, such as with Hertzberg.org where he admitted to having worked for the DoD. AA at Kos blogged about Brad and the Curtis/dog story. I could find only one other person who did that. It was "Fintan Dunne," a known disinformation noise maker. Kudos to John Dean for busting up the disingenuous pack of trolls who made a mockery out of the election integrity movement. As for Hertzberg, it appears that his websites were on government property. If so, I am curious why his ronpaulonline and other websites were there too. Finally, if the Election Science Institute was a true non-profit dedicated to helping with election integrity issues, why is the domain no longer available?

COMMENT #30 [Permalink]

... LanceThruster said on 4/22/2008 @ 8:03 am PT...





Almost all our institutions meant to ensure election integrity are asleep at the switch. Thanks Brad Blog!

COMMENT #31 [Permalink]

... fatchance said on 4/22/2008 @ 8:06 am PT...





Medical people use DRE with a different meaning: Digital Rectal Exam. Actually, the meaning may not be that different; we're taking it in the ass in either case.

COMMENT #32 [Permalink]

... naschkatze said on 4/22/2008 @ 8:38 am PT...





Some of the people on the thread to the main post at HuffPo are saying that there are ballots in NE Pennsylvania without Obama's name on them. Perhaps, one of you can do a direct link, and how do we protest this if the story is true? http://www.runhardmedia.com/hrc/jpg

COMMENT #33 [Permalink]

... Alibe said on 4/22/2008 @ 8:47 am PT...





Since they aren’t counting Fl and MI, To balance that disenfranchisement out, why don’t we not count 2 other states of equal delegate votes that Obama won. That way the current states that are being punished won’t feel so bad and the 2 new states who will be disenfranchised won’t really care or won’t care enough to bother in the general election. Do you think they would mind? Instead of Hillary taking the hit, we will make the hit even. Of coarse did Obama even win two states as big as FL and MI???

COMMENT #34 [Permalink]

... Floridiot said on 4/22/2008 @ 9:04 am PT...





I gotta better idea, let's take Clinton off of the ballot in Pennsylvania, in it's place she'll have an uncommitted checkbox.

That'll be fair.

COMMENT #35 [Permalink]

... molly said on 4/22/2008 @ 10:14 am PT...





Karma!Gotta' love it! Kossaks love Obama like newly weds...no prob. in our election machines...they're saying Philly(big Obama stronghold) is having massive machine break downs. Glitch. Hard to look over a glitch when you are a newly wed.

COMMENT #36 [Permalink]

... olenska said on 4/22/2008 @ 7:25 pm PT...





so then pa election doesn't count. clinton could steal it as she stole new hampshire. exit polls do not lie. and now we are not permitted to ever SEE the exit polls. what a sham . what a disgrace

COMMENT #37 [Permalink]

... Libby said on 4/23/2008 @ 8:47 am PT...

