How worried are you about the integrity of the elections in your state?

[undeterred]

[gademocrat7]

1. Diebold in Georgia. A cause for concern.

[JeffR]

8. Absentee GA voter here.

Some small comfort since Kathy Cox opened the door for Diebold. That cost her my primary vote, and thousands of others, I'm quite sure.

[pat_k]

2. Beware using "integrity." It is their buzz word for suppressing the vote

For me the question is:

Do you have confidence that your state will run a free and fair election in which the candidate that more people voted for wins?

The answer for me is simple.

No. No Way. No How. No Confidence what so ever.

The processes for qualifying to vote, registering to vote, recording votes, and tabulating votes in nearly ever state are wide open to voter suppression, corruption, errors, data manipulation, and willful fraud.

The only thing guaranteed is that there will be candidates who are declared winners that were actually rejected by the voters.

[undeterred]

4. so many good words ruined

:shrug:

[pat_k]

15. We do need to take some words they have demonized or co-opted back

. . .(wliberal and pro-life), but "election integrity" is a term I avoid because it has become so associated with putting barriers between voters and the ballot box.

We need to take back liberal. Instead of exposing the lies and demonizing those who demonize the term "liberal," we are choosing the coward's path and labelling ourselves "progressives" -- and thus we accept and promote the lies the fascists attach to the word "liberal."

And, some thoughts on taking back "Pro-Life" here: http://journals.democraticunderground.com/pat_k/1

[Cleita]

3. In California I have hardly any trust left, especially after this:

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3339

[BOSSHOG]

5. If the republicans have to cheat to win elections in Mississippi

they are in big trouble.

[Retired AF Dem]

6. Cook County IL

Dont trust it at all.

[OhioChick]

7. Ohio

Need I say more?

[me b zola]

9. I'm worried about the tabulators

In Oregon we vote by mail which is a great system. The votes, however, are counted on tabulators provided by Sequoia.

[Peace Patriot]

10. Calif: Diebold, ES&S. The Bush Junta made a special effort here in Calif

to get rid of our good Sec of State, Kevin Shelley--who sued Diebold for their lies about the security of their machines, de-certified the worst of their machines (the touchscreens0 prior to the 2004 election, and demanded to see their top secret source code. Shelley was "swiftboated" out of office on entirely bogus corruption charges, and then they installed Diebold shill Bruce McPherson (APPOINTED by Schwarzenegger) as Sec of State in time to illegally RE-certify Diebold touchscreens for this year's Gov and Congressional elections. Touchscreens make putting a 5% to 10% "thumb on the scales" for Bushites, warmongers and corporatists easier, but ALL these Bushite-corporate controlled machines (touchscreens, optiscans, central tabulators) are run on TRADE SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code, with virtually no audit/recount controls--and must be thrown into 'Boston Harbor.' These machines ARE the fascist coup.

Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia are the three major players in the election theft industry. All three have very close ties to the Bush Junta, the Republican Party and/or to extreme rightwing 'christian' causes.

Makes you wonder about the MIND-BOGGLING SILENCE of the Democratic Party leadership in Calif (where they assisted in Shelley's ouster) and nationwide, on the most fundamental of our rights: our right to vote. That worries me more than anything--that my own party is in on it, shilling for war profiteers and our corporate rulers.

Bust the Machines--Vote by Absentee Ballot this November!

AB voting is up to 50% now in Los Angeles--where they have Diebold shill Connie McCormack as head of elections. If more people vote AB--say, if the 60% to 70% who loathe the Bush Junta nationwide (and probably higher statewide)--vote by Absentee Ballot, we CAN break the grip of the electronic voting industry. AB votes are not particularly "safe" either--and will not insure accurate vote counts this fall--but a massive BOYCOTT of the machines by AB voting WILL empower the election reform movement, and put its leaders at the table with our demand for a RETURN to TRANSPARENT vote counting. It will also help turnout. An AB voting protest, aimed at un-rigging the system, is a great motivator for disillusioned non-voters (as well as for us "hang in there" voters!).

As Calif goes, so goes the nation. Shelley was leading the reform, nationwide. They got rid of him--so they could get more of these election theft machines installed. If we can overcome this election theft industry now, as a citizen protest movement, by means of AB voting, we can not only save Calif from being turned, artificially, into a "red' state, but we can also help put the country back on track to getting rid of these machines and restoring verifiable, VISIBLE vote counting, everywhere. We need to jump-start reform NOW--to save the '08 primaries and general election from secret corporate control of the results. The only way I can see of doing this peacefully is a huge AB voting protest THIS FALL--a refusal to vote on these machines, a massive "vote of no confidence" in this rigged system, to FORCE reform NOW.

[Cleita]

12. Since we all get sample ballots in the mail, I have been

thinking that maybe our Democratic clubs should collect the sample ballots of registered Democrats, who voted, anonymously of course, and do a hand count of them. I am not interested in Republicans or other parties, unless they too want to verify their vote, because a count of Democratic votes that turns up differently than the official counts will tell us something isn't right.

Do you think it would be possible to get everyone on board with this or is it herding cats?

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. Herding cats

most people in this state are blissfully unaware of the problems and still trust the system

Me... I am proof possitive they will steal my vote, but god damnit, make them work at it!

I am also proof possitive that if we make any gainst it will not be to retake any house, just enough to quiet the voices.

Ah yes, reaching for the tinfoil, for I know some even here think this is tinfoil

[riona]

11. FL - who me worry?

:spray:

[undeterred]

16. Florida and Ohio,

I don't know what to say. The rest of us have learned from your bad experiences, but I wish we'd learned how to fix things.

[TahitiNut]

14. As long as we have less confidence in vote counts ...

... than we have in Lotto machines and ATM machines or even vending machines, we're surrendering our democracy. There's absolutely no excuse for this. None.

I want paper ballots and 100% hand counts. If optical scanning is used for an early, unofficial return, that's fine. Until all ballots are handled like gold and counted manually, our elections are not sufficiently reliable to protect our democracy.

[Cleita]

18. Amen. Now how do we twist the arms of our officials to do this? n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. Change the paradigm

elections are public, and shoudl be handled by PUBLIC officials, not corporations

[Cleita]

20. Another thought too. ATM machines and other electronic

counting machines are verified by hand counts of money and receipts. The banks and retail stores just don't accept what's on the tapes. The tape only tells them what the results maybe should be. Why aren't we doing the same with our votes? Every ballot should be hand counted to verify the tapes. And if there is a discrepancy, then they need to compare thes tape and ballots involved to find out why, just like the banks and retail stores do. It's known in accounting as balancing.

[AspenRose]

17. Brown person in New Mexico

Enough said....