CC wrote on Oct 26, 2006 1:04 AM:I plan to request an absentee ballot for this election. I actually saw a demonstration on TV of how the votes in an election could be flipped in just a few minutes on the central tabulating PC that counts all the votes from electronic voting machines. Meanwhile, election officials had been blithely assuring us that we needed to *trust* their machines. I'm starting to believe that we need to return to paper ballots counted by hand. There might be a little vote theft with that kind of vote. But, you wouldn't be able to steal an entire election in the blink of an eye. Our government workers can do the counting and the political parties can monitor the counting up close. Or, if we decide to continue with voting machines to count our vote, the vote should be clearly audited at every level of the vote. Results should be posted at every polling location and the vote at each polling location should be clearly indicated on a government website. We do more auditing at banks than we do of our vote. And, our vote is a lot more important. Exit polls showed Kerry winning the last presidential contest in a landslide. "The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which all other rights are protected. To take away this right is to reduce a man to slavery." - Thomas Paine

Tom wrote on Oct 26, 2006 6:33 AM:Jim Lampley should go back to sports, something that he actually knows something about. Stolen election? Does he forget that all the ballots (paper) were recounted by several news agencies and supported the election results? How convienent to forget.

Oh Boy! wrote on Oct 26, 2006 8:17 AM:Sounds like they know what the people want, all 100 of them, NOT! Go back to hollywood and do your comedy routines on stage!

????????? wrote on Oct 26, 2006 8:42 AM:lets be honest,, kinda makes one wonder who got paid off to go to computer voting. No paper trail, God knows an 8th grader somewhere could 'hack' the system, let alone a computer crook, thats why its the fastest growing type crime taking place. Are you willing to put your Country at risk for this...someone is.

GG wrote on Oct 26, 2006 9:41 AM:Don't you wonder why Bush and Rove are so confident the GOP will win this election, when every poll has them losing big time? Could it be because they can manipulate the electonic votes? And that doesn't begin to take into account the thousands and thousands of legal voters across the country who will be disenfranchised because of Republican electoral manipulation. Exit polls are the most reliable type of polling, yet in the 2004, the results were flipped. Bush won by the exact amount that the exit polls said he was losing by. I agree with CC, let's go back to paper ballots. In the meantime, vote for Debra Bowen for Secretary of State and at least we won't have to use electronic voting systems in California. When Haas said they "worked flawlessly" does that mean they produced the results he wanted?

To CC wrote on Oct 26, 2006 9:54 AM:I think you're a little late to request one ... Mine's already arrived and been sent back.

Let Me Vote Online wrote on Oct 26, 2006 11:49 AM:Require a social security number to login. Cross reference with death & prison records (among others) to verify eligibility. Once a vote is cast under that SSN it can't be used to login again until the next election. Give the voter a printable copy that they can keep for their records. Make sure it also gets emailed to the registrars office for verification or use in case of conflict or recount. Sure there are several security issues that would have to be addressed, but the technology is available. Plus you would certainly increase voter turn out and reduce the possibilities of anyone voting who doesn't have the right to.

Carter wrote on Oct 26, 2006 12:57 PM: Asner will find some way to negate anything the current government is doing. I have never heard him say a good thing about anything. If a current government official said that we should leave all rocks their natural color Asner would argue that we should paint them all. He is a nut shouting, "Look at me, here I stand down here."

Vista Voter wrote on Oct 26, 2006 1:14 PM:I have always loved going to the polls and having the feeling that I have participated in the democratic process. After reading and hearing about the electronic voting machines, though, I have decided to become a Permanent Absentee Voter. At least that way I know there is an exact paper record of how I voted. Like Lampley said in the article, I don't see how a piece of paper printed out of a machine that has been hacked can be trusted any more than the machine itself. I'll be voting for Debra Bowen for Secretary of State. McPherson is clueless and doesn't even acknowledge the potential for problems with electronic voting.

For the Chicken Littles wrote on Oct 26, 2006 1:49 PM:Some of you are amazing. Do you actually think that Diebold system are the only ones used in the US? Have any of you ever heard of ES&S or UniSyn? Stop listening only to the doomsayers and do a little research for yourselves before you whine about something that you heard someone say on CNN.

gimmeabreak wrote on Oct 26, 2006 5:03 PM:It isn't just about the hackable machines - and no, Diebold is not the only manufacturer of "vulnerable" machines - the ES&S ones aren't a whole lot better. It is also about not having enoough machines "available" in certain precincts where "your" candidate doesn't poll well. Its about hiring "database consultants" to "scrub unauthorized voters" from rolls. Its about enforcing form over substance paper thickness requirements on Voter registration applications. Its about companies who "register" voters in drives, but who trashcan registrants of the "wrong" party. Each and every one of the foregoing activities went on in 2004, and I'm sure ... Rove and the Prez know its going on now, too. Its gaming the system, and it's immoral..

Paper Record??? wrote on Oct 26, 2006 8:07 PM:Hey guys ... just because you vote absentee doesn't mean there is a paper record of your vote ... unless, of course, you make a copy of it before you mail it. There are still other powers at work that are at least equally as unreliable as these electronic booths you're so paranoid about ... and that is the US Postal Service. Are you scared yet? You should be!!!!

gimmeabreak wrote on Oct 26, 2006 8:40 PM:Paper Record?? is right. The tabulation machines, too, are vulnerable to hackery as well, even when being fed "paper" ballots. The only benefit is that with a paper ballot as a backup, there is a way to verify if the tabulated votes show a significant disparity from the polls - whether in a specific precinct, district, county or otherwise.

To gimmeabreak wrote on Oct 27, 2006 8:33 AM:What evidence do you have of any of this happening? Do you know anyone who works for a voting company or has any association with the testing of these systems? My guess would be no on both counts. WHat can be done in a lab is far different than what can be done in the field. Some of you act like the machines are only used in GOP precincts in GOP controlled counties. Let me ask you, do you see the LA county vote as being GOP controlled? Do you think the REP candidates will win in LA county? Give it a rest. Those who are promoting the vast voting conspiracy are doing so for their own self interests. You lemmings keep following them right over the cliff at your expense.

LP wrote on Oct 27, 2006 3:03 PM:Time to move into the electronic age. Paperless society is what we are after. I thought some of these celebs were intelligent, especially Lampley... I guess not. You nay sayers need to get with the program before the program leaves you in the dust..

dee wrote on Nov 3, 2006 9:16 AM:Weeks ago I filled out and sent in my registration card to become a perm. absentee voter- I called to confirm receipt of this after receiving a second blank copy of the same card...I was told by the SD registrar's office that my registration had not been received (and by then it was too late to send in another card)...I was assured by the representative on the phone that there would be paper ballots available at my polling place---I wonder how many of these ballots Mr. Haas will place at each polling place? I wonder if I will be forced to place my vote into those machines where it will be untraceable, easily hackable and will instantly become the intellectual property right of the Diebold Corp (the machines being used in SD)...SOMETHING IS ROTTEN IN THE STATE OF DENMARK! I fail to understand why some seem to find these concerns nutty or unnecessarily alarmist- they are valid concerns held by an increasing number of the electorate and shouldn't we at least ban together as voters to really look into the past two national (Kathleen Harris' unabashed gushing over Bush in Florida '00 is enough to merit another look- this time without hauling out Baker to tell us all to shut up and take it) elections and the Diebold corporation before any of us pull the it's just "sour grapes" crap? Isn't it worth putting some serious and renewed inquiry into election fraud at the state and federal level if for no other reason than to quell the rising tide of suspicion and unease over the issue? This is our democracy- our country and we exist in an increasingly dangerous global landscape- we need to know that the will of the people is being expressed and obeyed.