Distrust of Elections/Voting Machines and Voter Turnout

[L. Coyote]

One way to win elections is to undermine opponent turnout. This is facilitated by making people believe "the FIX is in."

The discusion and coverage of election fraud and voting machine issues needs to be balanced to avoid this unintended consequence.

[Land Shark]

1. Except it can't be "balanced" by "The Fix is Not In -- Lost Fair & Square"

Nor should "balance" result in propaganda or an unbalanced representation of the truth on the ground.

HERE's the BALANCE: Great News!!! We found some election problems and crimes, but they'll be instantly solved as soon as these corrupt people quit opposing election transparency!!! Let's pound on this hard and we'll get over 70% support, and then it's too much of a gap for the election to be stolen and get away with it.

(i.e. you can only steal a somewhat close election, you can't take a landslide in one direction and make it the opposite because it would lack believability to nearly all)

[applegrove]

2. Leaked, overly optimistic exit polls on a kerry win worked the same

way too. If Kerry was so far ahead as he "was" by 2 PM... why bother to go out and vote if you are a harried parent with no car or time or money to get someone to babysit the kids.

Anything that changes the thinking of democratic voters showing up at polls should be suspect.

VOTE!!

[organik]

4. Don't think so.

Pretty much everyone I know who voted for Kerry would have even if he was winning by a landslide. I don't think in the case of Bush V Kerry that people were that lazy...but whatever helps you accept Bush's "victory".

I for one couldn't wait to vote that day.

The message should be that the only way we can prove our guy won is with a MASSIVE TURNOUT! We can use the fraud issue to get MORE people to the polls - this is what Randi Rhodes suggests - and I think she's right.

[applegrove]

5. Please! At only 65% turing out to vote - that is pathetic for any Western

Democracy. By anyone .. you mean anyone politically active. What about those who don't have the energy to be active. Cause they aren't in school but slogging it out in a hard job and trying to balance the kids or the teens.. can be quite stressful to have a home full of teens. Election would be the last thing on one's mind. So too.. reading the newspaper.

Sixty Five percent. I've seen it written somewhere that that is "really good"!. That isn't.
There are 50 ways to fool with an election. We get diebold (though I don't agree it was used as anything other than intimidation (new tech) and too long line ups in heavily dem districts in Ohio).

We get phone banks being jammed.

We get some races being more heavily vetted for felons or fear of past transgressions even though said people had the right to vote.

We get phone calls to scare people from hotel lobbies.

We get intimidation at the polls.

What about the other 45?

Stealing hearts and minds with a war president.

Framing dems as everything a family should be afraid of (humans have fears - repukes play on them).

So much else.

Don't count out overly optimistic exit polls as one of many.

[organik]

6. Agreed.

Turnout is, and has been pathetic in this country.

I work with a guy who doesn't vote - he says it doesn't matter who he votes for, they don't represent him.

Unfortunately, I think he's right.

The hard thing is to get people to go out and vote just to keep the greater of two evils out....

It is truly a sad situation.

I did get him to say he would vote if Feingold is the Dem candidate.

[BeFree]

3. So be the balance

Tell us why we should have faith that there is no "FIX".

When one is perfectly honest, how can someone tell another that their vote counts?