Democracy in Danger: the Voting Dramacracy Continues

Wow, take a couple days off and the world keeps going without ya! Sheesh! Sadly, this includes voting irregularities. I was really hoping this would stop happening long before election day, but since the reports keep coming in, I can only assume what we're seeing is the tip of the iceberg.

Why do I feel like our democracy is the Titanic...

Here's the latest coverage on the 'net, well, from my favorite sources, anyway:

VIDEOS: Vote Flipping on Touch-Screens in WV
Failure Seen Persisting Even After Election Official 'Recalibrates' Failed Machine!
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6576
The second video in that post is pretty good, too--shows a guy demoing how flaky the touchscreen really is (though I'm not sure he means to). What ticks me off is how they talk about the screen needing to be "calibrated" after it is moved (this is the excuse given for why it comes up McCain when you touch Obama's name). I never have to calibrate my iPhone's touchscreen. Are you telling me democracy has a shittier touchscreen than my iPhone? Weeeeak!

FL Governor Extends Early Voting Hours
ALSO: Broward County Backs off on Strict 'No Match, No Vote' Voter Registration Directive...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6583
This is good news! Extended voting hours and backing down on NMNV means more people get to vote. WHEW!

Diebold's 'Express' Voter Registration Computers (Again) Lead to Long Waits in GA's Early Voting
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6581
I love this new emphasis on "express" and how ultimately the systems crash and make everything take longer. Shouldn't we take our time with our democracy so we make sure to get it right? Look what happened back in 2000? Can we ever be sure who really won? Wouldn't you like to PROVE to me that your candidate was the man America wanted?

Too bad you can't.

ES&S Touch-Screens Keep Flipping in WV, Now in At Least 6 Counties
Same ES&S iVotronics Flipping Votes from Democrats to Republicans (and others) in At Least 4 States
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6572
So the reports of vote switching that were originally said to be isolated in two different counties in West VA, have now started coming in from SIX counties. That's a LOT of isolated instances!

Election Unspun Oct 28 - Vote Switching At Voting Machines
In Nashville Tennessee, Patricia Earnhardt, attempted to early vote. On her electronic touch screen voting machine, she tried to vote for Barack Obama - but her vote didn't register. Earnhardt requested the help of a poll worker, who tried to high light the Obama button but nothing happened. Finally, the machine chose selected Green Party Candidate Cynthia McKinney, whose name was located 5 rows below Obama's. A poll worker helped her start the process over and her vote finally registered Barack Obama.
http://www.fsrn.org/content/election-unspun-oct-28-vote-switching-voting-machines/3635
I think the above story is important because it illustrates how much extra effort some voters have to go to in order to actually vote. Of course, since these are still touchscreen voting machines, we still have to worry about whether the vote itself will actually be counted by the machine (it call tell us one thing and then do another, in theory).

Voting Rights Watch: One company's machine behind vote-switching reported in early balloting across the South
http://southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2008/10/voting-rights-watch-one-companys.asp
BradBlog.com reported it earlier this week, and SouthernStudies.org is now reporting that the iVotronic machine from ES&S continues to be the culprit in every case of vote switching reported across the American southeast.

Wondering what all this "election irregularity" stuff is? Wondering why I and so many other folks are worried about this election? Well, Lisa Rein (my good friend and SIL) has written a great primer that covers a great deal of the controversy. Check that post out here:

Voting Irregularities Starting Already - This Year, We're All Detectives
http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/002836.php

Going to blog about VideoTheVote.org soon--I promise. Why wait for me? Go check it out for yourself!

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