Teresa Heinz Kerry - Hacking the "Mother Machine"? by Thom Hartmann

[helderheid]

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0310-32.htm

Published on Thursday, March 10, 2005 by CommonDreams.org
Teresa Heinz Kerry - Hacking the "Mother Machine"?
by Thom Hartmann


"Two brothers own 80 percent of the machines used in the United States," Teresa Heinz Kerry told a group of Seattle guests at a March 7, 2005 lunch for Representative Adam Smith, according to reporter Joel Connelly in an article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Connelly noted Heinz Kerry added that it is "very easy to hack into the mother machines."

The two brothers Mrs. Kerry is referencing are, according to voting machine expert (and founder of www.BanVotingMachines.org Lynn Landes in an article for the Online Journal, Bob Urosevich, president of Diebold Election Systems, and Todd Urosevich, who was vice president for customer support of Chuck Hagel's old company, now known as ES&S.

Presumably the "mother machines" Teresa was talking about are the "central tabulator" computers, like the Windows-based Diebold central tabulator PC that Howard Dean hacked into and untraceably changed an election on - in 90 seconds - live on the "Topic A With Tina Brown" CNBC TV show late last year.

As Dean noted while hacking the Diebold machine on national television, "In 1998, only 7% of all U.S. counties used electronic voting machines." But, Dean noted of the 2004 race, "in the next presidential election, roughly 1 in 3 of us will use one."

<snip>

More here:

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0310-32.htm

[Igel]

1. So they're rented? n/t

[MelissaB]

2. I like the 5 steps.

So what to do? Here's a five-step process that Americans interested in clean elections - regardless of party affiliation - could start immediately, so it'll in place in time for the 2006 elections.


1. Organize and fund a national exit poll, using a non-partisan, professional organization like Zogby, or one built from the ground up.

2. Have detailed systems in place - using the internet and email, in particular - to release the results of those exit polls within an hour of the close of the polls on election eve in November, 2006.

3. Plan for vote fraud, and brand the plan. In the Ukraine, the slogan was "Time's up!" The logo was a ticking clock, and thousands of paper stencils were distributed so the logo could be spray-painted on sidewalks or buildings in the event evidence of vote-fraud showed up. The color was orange, and orange scarves and hats were mass purchased before election day.

4. Develop a corps of people committed to showing up and speaking out wherever the exit polls demonstrate the clear possibility of election fraud.

5. Have a relentless media strategy in place to keep the pressure on and bring people out into the streets.

If you think this isn't viable, it is. It's already been done, in Ukraine, Belarus, the former Soviet state of Georgia, and Serbia. In three of those four elections, this very strategy succeeded in getting "official" vote tabulations changed and elections reversed. And, irony of ironies, it was largely funded by the United States.

and the last paragraph...

Perhaps Teresa Heinz Kerry was one of the skeptical voters Annenberg surveyed. And, if the fears she candidly expressed this week have any basis, Americans - of all political persuasions - who believe in democracy, fairness, and open elections must be prepared to act in 2006.

[jean]

3. I like Teresa calling them mother machines - gives central tabulators an

air of sanctity. Don't screw with Mother Nature or the Mother Machines.

[helderheid]

4. hadn't thought of it like that

but I like it too - and I adore her. She is a fantastic woman. If they change the laws so Ahnold can run, I'd support her in a run!