I voted on a Diebold Machine today

[BOSSHOG]

Who would have thought conservatives needed to steal elections in Mississippi? It worked well and I did "print" how I voted and I did see the paper receipt in the machine but it is retained in the machine.

[derby378]

1. You poor thing

I feel for you.

:hug:

[neoblues]

27. Just what I would have said... almost verbatim.

You poor thing... are you okay? Then I'd have asked: did it flip your vote (showing the other candidate once you reach the review screen--if even that isn't disguised enough so you miss it; a 2004 Florida experience/memory)?

Happily, he answered that in his post. It's good to see at least they had a paper trail there (apparently, even now, only a few precints in Florida plan to be able to have printers this year**; or so it said in the last report I read... the crap continueth).

**like a 'trial' to see if it would work; as well as claiming not to be able to afford it or manage to implement such things on a broad scale. Wanna bet the precints that have printers don't happen to also be prominently Democratic?

[Warpy]

2. Paper is good

The ES&S machines here that disenfranchised at least 17,000 of us in 2004 didn't have any sort of paper trail, and only a counter at the bottom to show a vote had been cast. The counters ticked up for everybody because the local races were honestly tabulated. Votes in national races were subtracted, and the difference in counts is how we know so many of us were disenfranchised by those machines.

I don't know what will happen to those damned things now. The state has gone to 100% paper ballots, optical scan. There is a very nasty lawsuit grinding its way through the courts, and ES&S is fighting it every step of the way, citing their crooked programming is intellectual property.

Diebold machines with a paper trail may be more accruate because they'll be open to a manual recount. However, was the paper optional? If that's the case, you're still in trouble.

[BOSSHOG]

3. I don't believe it was optional

because I had to print how I voted before I could "cast" the ballot.

[ariellyn]

21. Thom Hartman just said paper alone is meaningless. Just because the

paper has somebody's name on it that matches your vote does not mean that's what was retained in the database.

[midnight]

22. When I read comments like Thom Hartman. I believe them.

Why do we focus on how many seats we need to take in order to overturn this lunacy in the White House. We need to have a fully audited system of voting. One where the tabulation is not manipulated from a secret source.

[ariellyn]

25. I have been saying this forever. People keep talking about '06 and '08

Much of that I think is an intended attempt to distract from this very problem.

[Kukesa]

4. That's the same kind of Diebold machine

we used in Ohio for the primary election; I'm a poll worker.

Lots of people wanted a hard copy of their ballot and thought they should get one after they pressed "print", but you're correct, the ballot stays in the machine.

When we closed the precinct, all four of us poll workers (two Dems and two Repubs) watched as the presiding judge (just a fancy name for the worker who was in charge) took out the roll of paper ballots, placed the roll in a case designed for it, locked the case, and secured the lock with wire. All four of us then signed our names to a document stating this had been done.

[sutz12]

5. That sounds like a step in the right direction...

:thumbsup:

[derby378]

14. Still, the counting has been left to a private corporation...

...using proprietary technology that nobody's allowed to know anything about.

Never give up. Never surrender.

[shance]

6. I'm glad you cared enough to vote. We have to get rid of these machines.

Until we are rid of the machines and have paper ballots hand counted by citizens and neighbors in each precinct area which is open to the public, we won't have fair tabulation of the votes.

The people who are counting the Diebold votes are the same people who have stolen the last three elections.

[BOSSHOG]

7. I fail to see what was wrong with the old way of voting

I know each county in Mississippi had to buy these damn new ones. We dems are deciding on who to throw to the wolves against trent lott in November. A democratic primary in Mississippi in June, the polling place, probably the loneliest spot in the state.

[SharonAnn]

8. The paper "ballot" should be retained at the polling place, just like

paper ballots were originally.

It may be needed for a recount.

Also, it prevents the problem of someone paying a voter if they "prove" they voted a certain way.

[Bandit]

9. I think we should come out in mass in favor of these machines

The largest maker of these voting machines is Sequoia a company based in that Leftist country Venezuela and made by Leftists. If we come out for these machines in mass the right probably would take a hard left turn and demand they be eliminated. Child Psychology 101

[KansDem]

10. Did you get a purple finger?

If you believe the Bushistas and the Corporate Media, it's not whether of not your vote counted that determines a healthy, working democracy, it's did you get a purple finger...

[tlsmith1963]

11. They Have Them...

at the Registrar of Voters here in San Diego. I saw a report on it, & it clearly said Diebold on the machines. It made me sick. Luckily, they didn't have them at my polling place.

Tammy

[CottonBear]

12. GA is all Diebold since 2002 & we've never had paper receipts, ever.

:cry:

[deaniac21]

13. I long for the days of paper ballots when election fraud was

non-existant. Why do we have to keep taking backward steps instead of progressive ones? ;(

[Clark2008]

17. Election fraud has never been non-existant.

It wasn't as bad as now and the technology didn't make the average voters' heads spin, but there has always been election fraud - even amongst the Dems.

[deaniac21]

24. I'm from Arkansas and I can tell you there has never been an

illegally cast Democratic vote in our history!

[eppur_se_muova]

20. There's always been election fraud, but it used to be hard work.

Every phony vote had to be recorded by hand, which at least put some kind of limit on it. With e-voting, it is as easy to creat a million phony votes automagically as it is to create one. This is inherent in the automation of the vote-tallying process, and won't go away with "improvements" in the software or hardware. Paper records provide a way to double-check, but ONLY IF THE VOTE IS QUESTIONED IN THE FIRST PLACE. We need to get rid of the electronic tallying altogether -- votes should be hand-counted, in an area open to public viewing, or at least before certified neutral witnesses.

[Rowdyboy]

15. I did too and it pissed me off!

I'm over Sec of State Eric Clark for allowing this trash to take over our elections. I REALLY liked having a paper ballot. That way I KNEW my vote would cound. Screw Diebold, and I will votge for ANY Democrat over Clark in the future.

[BeFree]

16. Now

What kind of an audit will your county undertake?

That is the next step, finding out how an audit of the machines takes place. Some states audit 2% of the paper trail and compare that number to the machines.

[ificandream]

18. We all know how you voted...

...thanks to Diebold.

[ificandream]

19. My county got rid of Diebold

We had machines last election, but paper ballots this one. When I asked why, I was told by one of the precinct workers that the Diebolds had been hacked. Good grief.

[Orsino]

23. Wash carefully.

Check yourself for viruses and spyware.

[Jimdish25]

26. One way the fraud works with paper...

A phone call to Ken Blackwell informing him of the Counties or precincts that weren't hacked. Those are the ones chosen for the "random" recount. Game over.

I hope I'm wrong, but I see big egg on the faces of those mainstream Democratic Campaign Committees, choosing weak candidates and ignoring what promises to be massive vote fraud in this one. Can't wait to hear their excuses this time. Maybe we didn't go to church enough?

In any case, we're working hard here in Connecticut to replace Sen. Lieberman with a more representative candidate Ned LaMont. I think it can happen here but it's far from a sure thing. Wish us luck.

[kentuck]

28. How many people voted in your precinct ?

Would it be impossible to handcount them?

[obreaslan]

29. I know, I saw it when I hacked into the machine last night....

Machine #6895113 - IP Address 64.156.10.13
Your vote has been recorded as well as your vote for the Republican candidate in November. There will be no need to show up, we've got you covered.

Signed,
Your Friendly Neighborhood Diebold Technician

:silly: