Voting Integrity

In case anybody’s wondering about the integrity of the voting systems in Georgia, they can relax. The elections board members have looked into it and have found nothing at all to worry about:

Touch-screen opponents have alleged that Barnes’ and Cleland’s 2002 upset defeats are suspicious because of a last-minute fix to the machines.

[…]

To many people, the solution seems simple. Consumers go to a store and are given a receipt listing what they purchased. So why can’t voting machines produce a similar piece of paper the state can use to ensure the integrity of elections?

[…]

“It really adds nothing to the system, [and] the people who think it will don’t understand the history of voter fraud we’ve had with paper,” she said.

Cox strongly defends electronic voting, calling Georgia’s voting machines “the best solution available.”

[…]

In October, the Fulton County Elections Board sent Cox a letter that asked pointed questions about the security of Georgia’s voting machines. The state’s largest county uses 2,975 machines. Harry MacDougald, a Republican board member, wrote the letter after hearing about Rubin’s report.

Cox wrote a six-page response explaining the procedures in place to ensure the machines cannot be manipulated.

The Fulton board replied Dec. 1, telling Cox she had alleviated members’ concerns.

“I feel reasonably comfortable,” MacDougald said recently. “There’s always a theoretical possibility [of tampering]. That can never be excluded, regardless of the voting technology. But the measures that were previously in place, with the new measures and technical fixes that are being made, bring the issue within a reasonable degree of security.”

That Buckhead is a real renaissance man, isn’t he? Where does he find the time to study typography and forensic document investigation on top of his legal work for the VRWC, serving on the local elections board and spending vast amounts of time on Freerepublic? Busy, busy, busy.

One thing I might warn everyone about on this voting technology issue. Be advised that if we win and it’s close, the set-up has been put in place for Buckhead and his grubby little friends to rush online claiming that we stole the election. I have a hundred bucks riding on it. Projection has gone beyond a psychological diagnosis to an actual propaganda tool.

Thanks to Mitch for the heads up