Getting voting right
Here it is more than six years since the 2000 presidential election was decided in the courts because of voting challenges and the nation still hasn't solved the problem. We don't have foolproof machines in place everywhere. Too many of them don't provide a paper trail for use in case of malfunctions or for recounts.
And we read today that it's a New Jersey problem. Voter-rights activists are going to court to challenge the use of electronic machines used in 18 counties that they say were never tested and are susceptible to fraud.
Voting is a right that cannot be tampered with. We all must have faith that our votes will be counted. This is not getting the priority it should, from Washington and in too many state capitals. State election officials should share their voting-machine experience and determine which ones should be recommended to their counterparts elsewhere. And it's long past time for New Jersey Rep. Rush Holt's bill to require a paper record of all electronic-machine votes to win congressional approval and the president's signature. If cost is raised as an issue, consider the cost in lost public confidence if we leave voting in doubt.
And we read today that it's a New Jersey problem. Voter-rights activists are going to court to challenge the use of electronic machines used in 18 counties that they say were never tested and are susceptible to fraud.
Voting is a right that cannot be tampered with. We all must have faith that our votes will be counted. This is not getting the priority it should, from Washington and in too many state capitals. State election officials should share their voting-machine experience and determine which ones should be recommended to their counterparts elsewhere. And it's long past time for New Jersey Rep. Rush Holt's bill to require a paper record of all electronic-machine votes to win congressional approval and the president's signature. If cost is raised as an issue, consider the cost in lost public confidence if we leave voting in doubt.
posted by Larry Benjamin at 3:57 PM
3 Comments:
Does anyone besides me wonder why these activists didn't question November's results when the Democrats won? Funny how they scream "fraud" only when Republicans win. The same people cry foul when Republicans propose voter IDs, arguably the best way to prevent voter fraud. If there's anything the public should lose confidence in, its in these partisan activists and their accomplices in the media for whom voting rights is at the bottom of their priority list, and getting Democrats in office is at the top. Oh, heck, maybe I'm just being cynical ...
Accomplices in the media? Ya mean the compliant press that knuckled under and gave in to Dubya on the WMDs and the Iraqi connection to 9-11?
No, Ray. The compliant press that for four years straight (right up to yesterday’s press conference) harped on missing WMDs while NOT ONCE mentioning that Clinton, Hillary, Gore, Albright, Kerry, Kennedy, etc. said the same exact thing about WMD’s all throughout the ‘90s. The compliant press that has brainwashed people like you into thinking that the Bush admin. made an Iraq-9/11 connection when they never did.
Ya mean the "liberal" media that perpetuated Republican myths about Gore (i.e. that he invented the internet, and that he was responsible for the cleanup at Love Canal?)
The media never perpetuated these things. It was conservative opinion radio. BIG difference.
and allowed the "Swift-boating" of Kerry? Oh, THAT media.
What?? The media never Swift-boated Kerry. They were too busy trying to dig up phony Bush National Guard stories. (Remember Dan Rather?) The Swift Boat veterans got little to no airtime, while every Bush-basher got front page coverage and guest spots.
Did you notice that the voting precincts that were in dispute were those where the tallies were out of whack with exit polls which are long-known to be accurate?
Incorrect. Exit polls are not generally known to be accurate. Did YOU notice that the precincts where “voter fraud” was suspected are overwhelmingly run by Democrats?
But nice try.
[You] Baloney. The media went along whole cloth with the administration's garbage. As for the rest of the above, it proves my point about the media being compliant, doesn't it? BTW, you ignored what I said about the alleged Iraqi connection to 9-11. The compliant media went right along with the administration.
No, my friend, they absolutely did not, especially since very little of it was "garbage." And I did address the media-spun Iraq-9/11 connection.
[You] Let's see: Chris Matthews at MSNBC, the clowns at Fox News, Wolf Blitzer at CNN, etc.
But you're citing only *opinion* or *talk* personalities, not news anchors or journalists. (And when did Chris Matthews ever support the Bush admin?) “Media” = news sources, i.e, the big network stations and major city papers, which are anti-Bush, all the time.
[You] What planet are you from? The Swift Boat clowns were on the air almost every day on Fox News and frequently everywhere else. It was difficult to NOT see it.
You’re right – the Swift Boats were invited on to Fox News *opinion* shows, to give their side. And you just made my point: FNC was the only channel to even bring them on. The rest of the media, news and opinion, took the ant-Bush position and still do today.
[You] I can only imagine that your TV is stuck on Fox News. Yes, exit polls are accurate. That's why they bother to take them.
Actually it's not, but yours is clearly stuck on Matthews and Olbermann. Now *there’s* balance.
Pleasure chatting with you ...
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