Debra A. Reed voted with her boss on Wednesday at African-American Research Library and Cultural Center near Fort Lauderdale. Her vote went smoothly, but boss Gary Rudolf called her over to look at what was happening on his machine. He touched the screen for gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis, a Democrat, but the review screen repeatedly registered the Republican, Charlie Crist.
That's exactly the kind of problem that sends conspiracy theorists into high gear -- especially in South Florida, where a history of problems at the polls have made voters particularly skittish.
A poll worker then helped Rudolf, but it took three tries to get it right, Reed said.
''I'm shocked because I really want . . . to trust that the issues with irregularities with voting machines have been resolved,'' said Reed, a paralegal. ``It worries me because the races are so close.''
Broward Supervisor of Elections spokeswoman Mary Cooney said it's not uncommon for screens on heavily used machines to slip out of sync, making votes register incorrectly. Poll workers are trained to recalibrate them on the spot -- essentially, to realign the video screen with the electronics inside. The 15-step process is outlined in the poll-workers manual.
Bull-fucking-shit!! [Click here]
A couple of things -- how much does anyone want to bet that this "out of sync" glitch consistently occurs to the detriment of the Democrat candidate?? This is the same pattern of "irregularities" that marred the 2000 and 2004 national elections. These sons of bitches have had 6 years to fix this shit to ensure that the "world's greatest Democracy" has clean elections it's citizens can trust. 6 fucking years and we're still experiencing "glitches" which once again will leave a good portion of the American voting public doubting whether their vote was counted accurately and whether the true winning candidate has been elected to office.
Secondly -- this lame-ass excuse of -- "oh! the machines occasionaly get whacked out of sync from heavy usage" doesn't cut it anymore. Diebold is one of the largest manufacturers of banking ATM machines in the country. Can someone tell me how many times they've pushed buttons on their bank's ATM machine and accidentally gained access to another customer's account?? And I would venture to say that ATM's are used alot more heavily than voting machines, and I base that view on the beat up looking condition of the machines at my local bank branches. Yet funny -- I've never heard of a rash of ATM machine "glitches" which resulted in money being withdrawn out of incorrect accounts. So -- if Diebold can make a foolproof, glitch-free ATM machine, why the fuck can't they do the same with voting machines??
Of course, us tin-foil hatters couldn't possibly be thinking it has anything to do with the fact that in 2003, then CEO of Diebold, Wally O'Dell, was quoted at a Republican fund-raiser stating he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver it's electoral votes to the President" George Bush?? Imagine that! The CEO of the nation's most prominent voting-machine maker making a public statement promising to deliver a key battleground state to his chosen guy -- Dubya? Nope! No conflict of interest to see here folks!! Let's all move along now . . . Will wonders never cease? And never mind the fact that 2 years later O'Dell was forced to resign from Diebold amid swirling allegations of securities fraud and other business improprieties.
As it is, it appears then that the lying, cheating fascist GOP once again has "the fix" in for the coming elections. Once again -- heretofore, accurate pre-election polls showing Democratic gains will be turned upside down in an "amazing" last minute change of heart by the voters as the Rethugs "miraculously" maintain their iron-fisted grip on the levers of power. And somewhere in Moscow, in a an unremarkable grave near the Kremlin walls, Josef Stalin, who once is alleged to have said "Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything," is smiling.
----krazee
