Election Integrity's Victoria Collier Speaks Up - Interview with Joan Brunwasser
However, many far-right incumbents stayed in office, a fact that got lost in the hoopla over the rare progressive victories.
The problem is that our computerized elections system is still fundamentally insecure -- open to centralized manipulation and outside hacking. So, small "wins" like we saw last week are, sadly and ironically, a setback to the Election Integrity movement, because we now have to fight harder to call attention to the fact that our electoral system is still out of our control.
IN HONOR OF THE AMERICAN DEMOCRATIC STRUGGLE
"If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.
They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.
This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical;
but it must be a struggle."
-- Frederick Douglas
Why demand publicly observable hand-counted paper ballots?
American elections have been privatized, corporatized, and computerized. Our votes are now counted in the concealed "black box" programming of private companies, unaccountable to the public.
Taking control of the mechanism of elections is one of the most powerful, effective, non-violent acts modern Americans can undertake to restore democratic accountability in our system.
No movement for democratic reform can ignore the reality of our co-opted voting system.
No movement for social justice can succeed without democratic reform.
Some points to remember:
* Millions faced exile, persecution, imprisonment, beatings, torture and death - solely for the right to vote. They won that for us.
* Casting a ballot is meaningless unless the ballot is accurately counted with all other ballots.
* We cannnot know whether all ballots are accurately counted unless we can witness the tally.
* We cannot witness a computerized count. Even "open source" software does not constitute a publicly observable count.
* Today, over 90% of American ballots are counted in secret by a handful of private corporations.
* Key players behind voting machine manufacturers have criminal records and ties to extremist political and religious organizations.
* For over 40 years citizens have compiled hard evidence of secret vote manipulation inside the computer's "black box."
* The mainstream American media has maintained a long-standing blackout on the subject of insider election fraud.
* Elections administrators, Secretaries of State, and Justice Department officials, have refused to take appropriate action.
* Election officials who support the use of privatized computers are abdicating their responsibility to oversee the safety of the count.
* Until the American people wake up and do something, we will continue to lose control of our government.
Learn the Elements of a Hand Counted Paper Ballot (HCPB) Election
Frequently Asking Questions on Voting Technology
RESOURCES
Hands-On Elections:An Informational Handbook for Running Real Elections
-- by Nancy Tobi
How to Count Paper Ballots, by Theresa Hommel
Top 10 Things Citizens Can Do To Oversee Elections
Voting by Paper Ballots and Hand Counts -- Resources from Lynn Landes
County-by-County Voting System Database
The Humbolt County Election Transparency Project
TEV Systems -- generate ballot images, easy accurate counts
HAND-COUNTED PAPER BALLOT VIDEOS
HOW TO RIG AN ELECTION IN JUST A FEW EASY STEPS // CLICK HERE FOR THE CENSORED VERSION
HAND COUNT ELECTION WALPOLE, NH 2004
LYDENBOROUGH, NH PROHIBITS CONCEALED VOTE COUNTING