Reply #3: I thought it was good

[kster]

SNIP...LaMarche says she has seen no evidence of attempted vote tampering in her 21 years as Burlington's elections director. Diebold optical scanners have been used in Burlington since 1994 and have proven highly reliable, she adds. Several recounts took place during that time, with the actual marks on the paper ballots being compared to the electronic count by the optical scanners. "And we've seen very little, if any, discrepancy," LaMarche reports. The Diebold machines are clearly superior to the type the Queen City used prior to 1994, she notes

(If you recount with the same scanner that counted the votes the first time of course there will be no discrepency)

SNIP...He emphasizes that his apprehension about cooked outcomes has nothing to do with the integrity of election officials in Burlington or the rest of Vermont. Beckwith's concerns are based on the secret design of Diebold's scanners and on the actions of the company's past and present executives

(Thats a good response)

SNIP...Both hacks were successfully executed despite the fact that Diebold refuses to disclose information about the software used in its scanners and tabulators. The publicly held company says it treats this information as proprietary in order to protect its products against competitors and hackers. Critics contend, however, that Diebold has a duty to be more transparent about what's inside its machines because the company plays a key role in the democratic decision-making process in hundreds of localities

(The company is bullshitting thay don't want the voter to see it)

SNIP...Other Diebold defenders point out that no one has demonstrated an occurrence of fraud in any actual elections in the United States involving electronic voting machines. In some quarters, insinuations of election rigging are rejected outright as either fantasies spun by conspiracy theorists or whining by sore losers.

(Cause no one is allowed to look at the machines, first to people who did HACKED A MOCK ELECTION?)

SNIP...During the 20 years he has been selling Diebold election products, Silvestro continues, "there have been nearly a thousand recounts involving our machines and there has never been one instance of anybody making an accusation of fraud

(Again cause no one is allowed to look in the machines)

SNIP...The scanners and tabulators used in Vermont are certified to 1990 federal standards, says Silvestro, head of the firm that distributes the Diebold machines. "The new model in production is certified to the 2002 standards," he adds. But Silvestro did not directly respond to the issue of whether executable code is contained in scanners distributed by LHS. Vermont officials have also not indicated whether the code is present.

(Why haven't they responded?)

SNIP...Beckwith isn't calling for scrapping scanners altogether and going to exclusively paper ballots counted entirely by hand. As Silvestro notes, "Machines have been shown to be more accurate than human beings in counting votes." For Beckwith, rather, the main aim is to come as close as possible to guaranteeing the integrity of the voting process in Vermont and every other state. "I want to live in a democracy," he says, "where everyone can have confidence that elections are conducted openly and honestly."

(Good one this article will open more eyes to the possibility of election fraud.)