September 15, 2008
by Robert W. Barker

The year was 2000 - the presidential election suspended like hanging chads, as the country stood in limbo, waiting for Florida to finish counting votes. Vote counting methods made headlines and the election is up in the air and then we hear about electronic vote counting machines made by a company called Diebold.

The vote count was stopped in 2000 By Katherine Harris of Florida - Mr. Bush declared the winner, and then the controversy started to grow over the electronic counting and the company that makes these machines.

There were rumors of fixed or rigged machines and employees blowing the whistle on how easily they are rigged and so on. It was a frightening thing for those of us that cherish our democracy to hear that votes might be tampered with. Eventually it was swept under the rug of apathy and America moved on.

Then another presidential race arrived in 04 with Mr. Bush once again trying for the prize.

This time the brazen attitudes of the republican arrogance was without doubt bordering on sedition.

One Mr. Walden O'Dell, chief executive of the Diebold Company, became openly active in the bid to reelect George W Bush. At a speech and fund raising letter Mr. O'Dell sent out he stated he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president." What does that mean, coming from a man that has control over the inner workings of touch screen voting machines - it is more than just a political backer.

Impropriety and problems of possible conflict of democratic interest were responsibly raised.

And soon inquiries started as to the accuracy and reliability of the Diebold machines in this important role they play. Especially when the same question was raised and some evidence produced for such crimes following the 2000 elections.

To doubt the machines accuracy and possible one-sidedness was natural in this environment.

The fund raising letter went out initially to Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, also a Republican, and was set to qualify Diebold as one of three firms eligible to sell upgraded electronic voting machines to Ohio counties in time for the 2004 election.

In his invitation letter, O'Dell asked guests to consider donating or raising up to $10,000 each for the federal account that the state GOP will use to help Bush and other federal candidates - funds that legislative Democratic leaders charged could benefit Blackwell.

The Democrats in Ohio urged Blackwell to remove Diebold from the field of voting-machine companies eligible to sell to Ohio counties. Blackwell refused to do that and was also later quoted as saying he "guaranteed" a victory in Ohio for President Bush.

Ohio voters may very well infer that Blackwell is ignoring Diebold's security concerns because its CEO is seeking large donations for Blackwell's party.

The O'Dell guest list reads like a who's who of Republican politics in Ohio.

They arrive at his mansion and spend big bucks to see that their man is elected, in any way they can. Nothing wrong with this fund raising event, it is the questions about the machines and their tainted vote count that brings the subject of politics and impropriety to the front.

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Walden O'Dell resigned in 05 but the machines' problems were never addressed and now more Diebold machines are in use then in the last election. A political operative with proper hacking skills could alter the results of any election on Diebold-made voting machines -- and possibly other new voting systems in Florida and Ohio as well as other states.

Diebold software has failed repeated tests.

A slight adjustment and the tally is set for whomever you want to be favored.

This is very scary - no paper trail, no guarantee our votes are going for the person we pick, and no fingerprint can be discerned in this endeavor.

Tests on an optical-scan voting system used around the country showed it is vulnerable to hacking that can change the outcome of races without leaving evidence of fraud. In one of the tests conducted by the non-profit election-monitoring group Black Box Voting, the researchers were able to probe into the system easily, create a loser for a winner and depart without a trace.

In the other tests, the investigator hacked into the voting machine's memory card and was able to hide votes, make losers out of winners and leave no trace of the changes, said Black Box founder Bev Harris.

Election fraud has surfaced in a number of major media publications; this is not an overnight sensation but an ongoing controversy.

Yet with all this evidence we will be using the Diebold machines in many polling places around the country in Nov. 2008.

Where is the outrage, the indignation and the paper trail we need to insure democracy in the USA?

When all is said and done this isn't about getting our preferred presidential candidate elected. This is concerning a more enduring resolution: getting resilient, ongoing citizen-based controls to supervise every election is tantamount to a republic's survival.

Elections and their results can control our daily lives: property, liberty, privileges, infrastructure, public safety, the justice system, and in the end the economic security we need, as well as autonomy, and our health...

As we stand in the booth we must ask ourselves is this a vote for Obama or McCain...and who really gets my vote?

So we must address this issue or all the other meandering issues are worthless in the perspective of democratic justice. Are we a voting republic, or a oligarchy of special interests? ...one that controls all aspects of our existence, including our choice in leadership?

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Robert W. Barker [send him email] is a writer, professional photographer and travel aficionado from Eureka Ca. His work is carried on many web sites around the globe, a first novel recently copyrighted in the library of Congress, is soon to be published.

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