Many Americans are very cynical about our country’s so-called democratic process. Not long ago, TSW reported that “nearly half of all Americans polled feel as though the current election process is rigged and unfair”. (1)

Yet, it is pretty safe to say that these are not just conspiracy theorists or the uber-paranoid that have these feelings. These people are regular, everyday Americans that have formulated a certain amount of distrust over voting and elections across the United States.

Once the public gets the slightest whiff of the possibility of a rigged election, they do not soon forget. A prime example of this unforgiving attitude toward rigged elections and the possible proof they exists is the Clint Curtis story.

Clint Curtis is a former computer programmer who once worked for the likes of NASA, ExxonMobil, and Yang Enterprises. Curtis has also made several unsuccessful attempts to run for public office. However, he gained national fame and attention when he alleged that a then Florida state legislator, Tom Feeney, approached him in September 2000 with the idea of compromising touchscreen voting machines.

According to the documentary, Murder, Spies & Voting Lies (the Clint Curtis story), Feeney asked Curtis to “write a program for a touchscreen voting machine that would make it possible to change the results of an election undetectably.” (2)









People Losing Faith in the Election Process

Curtis’ claims were met with mixed results. Feeney, of course, denied the claims and others felt as though he fabricated them, even though he did pass a polygraph test in 2005. However, there are quite a number of people who feel as though Curtis is a hero for exposing government corruption and voter fraud. When Clint Curtis campaigned for congress in 2006, this is what the Orlando weekly had to say:

More importantly, he’s walking, talking proof of a GOP conspiracy to rig the 2004 presidential election. For Democratic activists wondering how John Kerry lost to President George W. Bush when exit polls predicted otherwise, Curtis offers a satisfying explanation: Kerry didn’t lose. Bush stole it again. (3)

However, Curtis’ legacy did not die with his bid for congress. This past August. Florida’s Sunshine State News published an interesting article about Rick Scott’s campaign for re-election as Florida’s Governor.

Though the article itself made no connections to the Clint Curtis story, the readers certainly did. In the comments section of the article, one reader said, “Jeb has still got enough mob connections around to use those Clint Curtis chips to make the scanners elect Rickey Poo.” (4)

While another stated, “The trouble is Jeb Bush and tom Feeney had a guy named Clint Curtis fix a little computer chip that they can put in the optical scanners and no matter what the paper ballot says you voted for that little chip will select the one the mobsters want in office.” (4)

These comments not only prove that people are losing faith in the election process, but also a scandal that is more than a decade old can easily resurface.