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De systematische Vernietiging van Stemrecht
Maandag, 28 Juli, 2008 Bespreek dit rapport in de forums RINF > Door Heidi Stevenson | U zou kunnen denken u het recht hebt te stemmen. U zou uw stemtellingen kunnen denken. U zou kunnen denken dat er een probleem hier of daar is, maar dat zij de uitzonderingen zijn. U zou kunnen denken dat de presidentiële verkiezing van 2000 een aberratie was, waarin de V.S. Het opperste Hof overtrad ethische en hofprecedenten om de verkiezingsverliezer te bekronen, die tegen de wil van de mensen verzetten zich. U zou kunnen denken het onmogelijk een aan de gang zijnde probleem kan zijn. U zou zeer droevig kunnen worden verward. Het stemrecht is onder systematische aanval in de Verenigde Staten. De technieken omvatten: * Openlijke disenfranchisement. * De omschakeling van de stem in verkiezingsmachines. * Weigering om het publiek toe te staan om te zien hoe de stemmen worden geteld. * Gebruik van de hoven van de mensen door politieke partijen en bedrijven om de wet te ontwrichten. * Gebruik van procesbedreigingen door grote bedrijven tegen geld-vastgebonden lokale regeringen om hen te verhinderen te onderzoeken stemming machines. Elke men zou niet als een belangrijke kwestie kunnen schijnen, maar samen genomen, is het duidelijk dat er een gecoördineerde aanval op Amerikaanse burgers' rechten op stem is. Het Wegknippen van de stem Brad Friedman heeft het probleem jarenlang gevolgd, maar zelfs was hij overweldigd toen het aan hem gebeurde toen hij in Los Angeles tijdens de 3 verkiezing van Juni Californië stemde: „Juist vóór mijn eigenlijke ogen, de computer-gedrukte stemming die door het stemmingssysteem was ik wordt veroorzaakt gebruiken, verkeerd ingevuld bellen voor vier van de rassen binnen stemde ik. Had I niet ongelooflijk zorgvuldig, nadat de stemming werd uitgeprint, om nauwgezet te vergelijken wat werd gedrukt aan wat ik eigenlijk voor stemde, zou ik nooit geweten hebben mijn stemmen werden gegeven aan kandidaten die ik niet stemde voor.“ Aangezien Friedman ging wijzen op, als hij blind was geweest, zou er geen manier geweest zijn om te weten dat zijn stemmen werden veranderd. Veertig percenten van zijn stemmen werden weggeknipt. Wegens zijn bekendheid, was de machine die hij had gestemd over quarantined. Niemand hinderde om de rest de machines op die opiniepeilingsplaats te controleren of anderen van het zelfde type. Het Kooien van de kiezer Wettig kiezers wie waarschijnlijk voor „verkeerd“ zullen stemmen de kandidaten worden geïdentificeerdd en van de kiezersbroodjes systematisch uitgesloten. Different techniques are used, but one documented by reporter Greg Palast tells of one method. Before the 2004 election, military personnel who came from predominantly black neighborhoods were targeted. The Republican National Committee sent them letters addressed “Do Not Forward”. Most, if not all, of the addressees were serving their country in foreign lands. Lists were drawn up of the names on the letters that had been returned as undeliverable. The lists were sent to the RNC. These soldiers had been “caged”. Their voting registrations were challenged, based on the returned mail. Once their names had been removed from the voting rolls — without any attempts to locate and inform them — they lost the right to vote in the next election, whether they had returned home and gone to the polls or they had sent absentee ballots. Through voter caging and other techniques, over half a million voters were disenfranchised during the 2004 election. The vast majority of those who were disenfranchised by caging were black military personnel. Lack of Transparency in Vote Counting In the recent June 3rd election in Monterey, California, two election observers were harassed and prevented from observing the process and the equipment used for tabulating votes. From the first, when they formally requested access, citing the California code that specifies the rules for observation — which quite clearly gives the right to check out all phases of the election, along with all computer and tabulating equipment — they were stonewalled. In spite of the attempts to stop them, Valerie Lane and Brian Rothenberger were able to see obviously illegal activities and clear indications that it would be easy to tamper with the vote count. They were stalled, ordered to leave, and threatened with arrest. The second article in this series will discuss the specifics of how Mr. Rothenberger and Ms. Lane were prevented from doing precisely what the law — and democracy — requires. Lawsuit Threat In New Jersey’s Union County, paper records of the number of voters in the recent primary election did not match the results produced by Sequoia Voting Systems’ machine printouts. Naturally, the County Clerk, Joanne Rajoppi, wanted the problem investigated. The Constitutional Officers Association of New Jersey, an organization of state sheriffs, county clerks, and other similar officials, concurred, calling for an independent review. They planned to have it done by a Princeton University computer scientist who has experience with voting machines. It isn’t going to happen. Sequoia claims, without any proof, that the errors were the result of errors by poll workers — an interesting concept, considering it’s never happened before. Using double-speak without a hint of embarrassment, they say that they “welcome all such responsibly executed review activities.” How that can be done, though, they don’t say — but they aren’t going to let Union County do an investigation. Sequoia threatened a lawsuit against Union County, claiming that an independent investigation would violate their licensing agreement. The county has no option but to capitulate. The cost of defending such a lawsuit is prohibitive for them. Left in the balance are the voters who have been disenfranchised. A Chilling Subversion of Our Democracy The implications for American democracy are chilling. A concerted and systematic effort has been underway to prevent the will of the people from being heard. The very basis of the governance of our nation is at extreme risk. Thomas Jefferson wrote: “Should things go wrong at any time, the people will set them to rights by the peaceable exercise of their elective rights.” He had faith in the people’s ability to make good decisions through voting. What would he think now, when that most basic of freedoms — the one at the heart of our society — is becoming a ghost, nothing more than the image of what it was meant to be? Alexander Hamilton said that a republic’s right to vote “ought to stand foremost in the estimation of the law.” Now, the right to vote is becoming little more than a shadow cast behind the actions of those who cast their votes into a void. Increasingly, it exists more in form than in substance. Different techniques that have been used — and continue to be used — will be discussed in depth in upcoming articles. The only way to stop the theft of democracy is through awareness of what’s happening. If you know that you’re a potential target of vote theft, then you can protect both yourself and the future of the nation. References The Brad Blog, by Brad Friedman, (http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6043) , (http://www.blackboxvoting.org/) Black Box Voting, (http://www.blackboxvoting.org/) “Buffalo Soldiers Scrubbed by Secret GOP Hit List”, by Greg Palast, ((http://www.gregpalast.com/massacre-of-t…) “Plan for voting machine probe dropped after lawsuit threat”, by Diane C. Walsh, Real-Time News, ((http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/0…) “Sequoia Threatens Lawsuit Over E-Voting Machine Review”, by K.C. Jones, Information Week, ((http://www.informationweek.com/news/man…) About the author* Heidi Stevenson, BSc, DIHom, FBIH Discuss this report in the RINF forums > Have Your Say: The Systematic Destruction of Voting Rights This entry was posted on Monday, July 28th, 2008 at 7:38 pm and is filed under Political News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. |
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