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November 09, 2004
Summary of available analysis on election fraud and one long opinion
There is much discussion at Daily Kos and quite a bit of news at
BradBlog.
Kathy Dopp and Elizabeth Liddle are crunching numbers at Us Together with the analysis in http://ustogether.org/election04/. I find this one http://ustogether.org/election04/Liddle_Analysis.html to be compelling as it eliminates the 'dixiecrat factor' by using data from the larger Florida counties.
Verified Voting has data on voting machines used by county.
Idea Mouth covers Florida and other states.
Black Box Voting is the central clearinghouse of information on electronic voting.
MSNBC is running a story with transcript here.
To summarize : numerous counties in Ohio are reporting more votes than registered voters. Numerous counties in Florida are showing an unusual number of democrats voting for Bush (to understate it a bit). Nader is asking for a hand recount in New Hampshire because the count is off by a large margin from the exit polls.
What do I think about all this election fraud stuff - As a computer programmer I know how vulnerable systems are to foul play - at the code level, or at the system level. Gross incompetence as described by Bev Harris (the Diebold database for accumulating votes is neither proprietary, nor encrypted. It's a simple old MS Access database and it doesn't even require a password to open it) provides significant evidence that these machines in use are susceptible to tampering. The statistical data accumulates showing that something unusual happened that may not be able to be explained by exit polls or post election polls. Perhaps a New Hampshire recount will reveal more discrepencies.
It's a case that is growing stronger but I believe there needs to be a forensic study done to achieve a level of certainty that will clamp this case closed with compelling and damning evidence. In certain counties in Ohio and Florida, voting machines and the central tabulation systems need to be confiscated and analyzed. A forensic computer scientist can peel away layers and possibly uncover the missing smoking gun.
So what do we need to do:
1. In every state, we must have legislation that requires that the voting systems be analyzed by a third party. The OS, the software, and all processes and procedures must be examined.
2. In every state, we must have legislation that requires either a paper receipt from a touch screen system, or a paper ballot with the optical scan system. Recounts happen and there must be a backup method to count. Counting by hand is all the rage in certain functional democracies (or so I read in the international press).
3. It seems to me our best bet for a forensic analysis of the voting machines is coming from Rep Conyers and his request that the GAO step in and investigate. I don't think there is any other entity with authority to do that. We must support Rep. Conyers any way we can in this. Phone calls to Rep Walden's office are futile, I know, but at least their free. Senator Wyden too. And Sen Smith if you are feeling particularly extra masochistic.
4. Zogby is doing a post-election poll. I think MoveOn, ACT, TrueMajority and others need to hit the road, and walk the precincts again. (Sorry canvassers, I know you are bushed.) Collecting anecdotes and performing a post-election polling can help solve this mystery.
Posted by John at November 9, 2004 09:58 AM