Are you concerned that the voting machines are going to be hacked?

Answer 1

I don't want to be, but when the President can look at polls that show his party is down by 23% (double what Reps were up in '94) and say he's confident that Republicans will win - it just makes me think that the results are sitting in a drawer in his desk already.

If Dems don't make huge gains (I'll even say they don't have to take over both houses, just lower the margins to a couple seats in each) then I don't know that I will ever trust the Democratic process in this nation ever again.

Sadly, that's how I feel. I hate it, but I can't trust a Republican for a LOOOOONNGGGG time after this current leadership. And I've never felt that way before. Even when I disliked Reagan and Bush 1, I never felt this way.

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Oh, and Matt - it's also been proven that Republican organizations destroyed Democratic registration forms in Nevada and Ohio; Ken Blackwell is being booted out of office in Ohio - in part due to the massive frauds he committed while secretary of state...

I could go on - but it isn't necessary. Each side has its strategies. But when Republicans are in power, theirs work better - because they have control over the end of things.

The only thing that truly pisses me off is that a person is allowed to be Secretary of State (i.e. - the individual whose sole job it is at that time to make sure that elections are carried out fairly and counted properly) and the State Campaign Chairman (i.e. - the person whose sole job it is to make sure their candidate wins).

How are those two jobs not automatically a conflict-of-interest? I'm not saying Blackwell and Harris did anything illegal, but why is no one concerned about how it appears? Their jobs were to run fair elections and to win for Bush. One job eliminates the other and it should not have happened. With some ethics - these two individuals would have at least not taken such positions and would have alleviated some fears.

Why shouldn't Americans be fearful of their right to vote being taken from them? It's all we have. I get very upset about people getting their panties in a bunch when someone believes an election is unfair. It should be - after the voting is over - utterly transparent and any individual should be allowed to count the ballots to make sure it was right. And Diebold computers don't allow anyone to recount anything by hand to make sure the machine was accurate - AND THAT IS NOT RIGHT. Period.

Answer 2

Of course. If people can, and have, hacked governmental and private business Web sites, which have constant monitoring systems and personnel, how much more vulnerable would computers attempting to gather real-time, non-repeatable data from 100 million users simultaneously be? This, of course, does not account for the very real possibility that the computers will crash and lose the data.

Ultimately, there are problems with any voting system (as rigged elections of the last two centuries have shown us). We just have to find the best system with the fewest amount of problems.

Answer 3

Only if the Dems Lose will we hear Anything about Voting Machines cheating or Voter fraud. According to Dems they have YET to Lose an election. Every time they have suffered a Defeat. The Reps Cheated.

Answer 4

Let's just have machines do everything for us so we don't have to do anything difficult and can get instant results (sarcasm). Life would be so much easier if we didn't have to think at all and let big business control everything. That's like not knowing how to multiply and trusting a calculator, you'd never know if it was working right or not.

Count them by hand with representatives of both sides monitoring it. it's the only way.

Answer 5

Diebold's chief operating officer Thomas Swidarski will take O'Dell's place.

"This has been a very challenging year for the company," Swidarski said. "We are beginning to make progress to improve some of our performance issues, reduce our cost structure by addressing inefficiencies in our manufacturing supply chain and software development processes, and instill price discipline throughout the company."

In a story last week, RAW STORY recounted allegations made by a Diebold insider who said he/she had become disillusioned after witnessing repeated efforts by the firm to evade meeting legal requirements or implementing appropriate security measures, and who alleged that Diebold had put corporate interests ahead of the interests of voters.

“I’ve absolutely had it with the dishonesty,” the insider said. Blasting Wally O’Dell, the current president of Diebold, the whistleblower went on to explain behind-the-scenes tactics of the company and its officers.

“There’s a lot of pressure in the corporation to make the numbers: `We don’t tell you how to do it, but do it.’ [O’Dell is] probably the number one culprit putting pressure on people,” the source said.

The whistleblower also questioned whether the company or its subsidiaries had mishandled a 2002 Georgia gubernatorial election and voting in Ohio this year.

Diebold spokesman David Bear rebutted the charges. “Diebold has a sterling reputation in the industry," Bear said. "It’s a 144-year-old company and is considered one of the best companies in the industry."

Answer 6

We should only have paper ballets that take a day or two to count, I am willing to wait, are you? You have to be careful if the people think the voting system is rigged people will not vote.

Answer 7

I am more worried by dead Native Americans voting, and people who don't actually exist, and those under voting age. The group ACORN was just busted for that this week. And of course we know which party all of those folks are registered as, don't we?

Answer 8

just maybe the software is already programmed to corrupt the voting tally no hacking may not be necessary.

Answer 9

Sure I am. It makes me feel as if my vote does not matter since the companies running the machines are "fixing" the elections.

Answer 10

Of course. Anyone with a brain in either party is.