Des Moines Register on Vote Security
Submitted by Michael Nystrom on Thu, 08/09/2007 - 10:491) Ron Paul & his supporters are not portrayed favorably:
Some Ron Paul supporters are worried that the count won't be honest and that results could be hacked or manipulated so their guy shows poorly.
Bring up the "Twilight Zone" music here. State GOP officials say some of these folks are paranoid. They say Paul is probably going to do poorly on his own, and the complaints are just an attempt to discredit and cloud what is likely to be a crummy finish.
2) Forget about that and move forward. The Campaign has advised / requested / directed that supporters STOP CALLING THE STATE GOP on this issue.
3) Read the story. They are using optical scanning machines with paper backups.
4) Work hard to get the vote out in Iowa. Let's not come out as tin-foil hat wearing paranoids as the media is already painting Ron Paul supporters.
5) That being said, be aware of the vote fraud issue. While it likely won't be an issue in the straw poll, from everything I have read , it is real - not just in Iowa but everywhere.
Iowa Republicans
If it weren't for the fact that the Iowa GOP excluded Rep. Paul from the debates, I wouldn't think twice about the diebolt machines. But, since the Iowa GOP "insiders" did exclude him, that only indicates that they wish he would just go away. I'm wondering, what else will they do to get him to go away? I don't understand their reasoning, only that they must be controlled by bigger fish in the GOP pool.
I'd have every Ron Paul voter make known their vote at a special exit box. Most will be very proud to do so. For 2 reasons, keep the Iowa GOP nervous, and honest.
alan laney
better yet.
with Paul's own connection to the techie crowd I'd be more in favor of having someone actually "hack the vote" and give a candidate a couple of million votes!!!!! this would most definetly end the problem and ruckus over the use of these systems.....give them proof positive. END OF STORY.
give me liberty or give me death
Exit Polls are being conducted by Citizens for a Fair Vote Count
Posted here on DailyPaul by Jim Condit Jr., http://www.dailypaul.com/node/1069 was the call for help and donations to man exit poll tables for each machine. It's for anyone that wants to have a backup count of their vote. I donated because I do believe there is a high probability for mischief.
When has there ever been an honest election in this country?
Instead of bringing democracy to Iraq we need to bring it to the USA first.
We need to use the Iraq voting system...a paper ballot, a bottle of purple ink and a manual count. In my opinion, it's a lot more reliable and trustworthy than what we have now or ever had.
And as far as paranoia goes...I don't think it was paranoia, but indeed fact when Stalin said:
'It's Not the People Who Vote that Count; It's the People Who Count the Votes'
The Iowa GOP are the only ones quoted in this article saying things like "Twilight Zone" and based on what the writer goes on to say, it makes one wonder who is really the paranoid ones the Iowa GOP or Ron Paul supporters. According to the writer, there just may be some justification for supporters feeling the way they do.
Imagine that.
Still, the flap illustrates just how important ballot security is in the Iowa caucus process. A lot is at stake in both the straw-poll and caucus-night tabulation and reporting. Temptations will be great to play games in an effort to alter results. With all the data to move around, there's also a possibility of simple error.
After the nation's experience in Florida in the 2000 election and the controversies over touch-screen voting, voters are justified in being, well, a little paranoid - or at least wanting more assurances the counts are honest.
Give the Iowa GOP a break
.
I heard the GOP leaders debate with Jim Condit, Jr., on Jan Michaelson's radio show and they were plenty insulted that Jim raised the issue of vote fraud, if indirectly. Jim's mistake was saying he was a Ron Paul supporter, which suggested that he was yelling foul on behalf of Dr. Paul That was not the case, but it could easily have been interpreted that way.
The Diebold machines are not perfect and are subject to manipulation at various stages, including being left unguarded overnight in a school gym. However, the optical scanning machines are, apparently, far less likely to be corrupted than the touch-screen models. As Jim pointed out, the programmer is key to making sure the machines function properly, but nobody knew who he or she was.
This is a big problem, but it should not be a sore point for the Iowa straw poll. They seem to be fair and trustworthy people who are doing their best. However, for primary elections that is another matter. The Diebold machines have been banned in California and their banning is pending in Florida. There are other companies that make voting machines but apparently they are also far from perfect.
What is the answer? I wish I had one.
They don't need a break as the system is already broken.
There are several problems. I really wish Professor Felten was less honest and a Ron Paul supporter http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/ - you can have 99 honest members and workers, and just one who runs a malware smartcard can rig the election. Or when they punch up the tallies and take them to a back-room.
But here is also where Dr Paul and his supporters and our love of the constitution crosses a boundary. One of the rights in both it and common law is the right to vote. Although our government is one of indirect democracy, it is at the root based on the people being able to vote and have those counted. Between the ballot box on the bottom of lake Michigan which put Kennedy in, or the problems in Florida that put George the (40+)3rd in, not to mention the internal dirty tricks within the GOP (and I have stories from Michigan I could go on about), that right is under as much attack from easy to alter or defraud systems as Habeus Corpus. Or even worse as then the majority will have no peaceful way of deposing a tyrant - Saddam and many other dictators regularly get well over 90% of the vote in their elections.
No, I don't trust them. Let them produce the paper ballots. There are enough Ron Paul supporters to work into the night counting them, and I would trust the most bizarre tin-foil-hat conspiracy-theory anti-my-position-on-X ally in the Ron Paul campaign to count honestly and correctly before I would trust the newest official from any GOP organization.
If these machines aren't good enough for California
If these machines aren't good enough for California, why are they good enough for the Iowa GOP Straw Poll, that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever?
Maybe that's why so many Ron Paul supporters are questioning their reliability and Mitt Romney supporters are silent on the subject.
After all, the MSM has already declared Mitt the winner, what do they know the rest of us don't or am I just being...what is it again, Oh, yes...paranoid?
The Price of Paranoia
.
Is eternal vigilance.