Is it possible that the vote was hacked? You know... I'm not being a sore loser here so don't even suggest it. I would be asking this question regardless of who won the election. I want my vote to be counted! I found out the other day that 80% of the electronic voting machines used in the election do not have a paper trail of any kind. Is that just a little disturbing to anyone? It's interesting too that people are not talking about this much. I stumbled over this article which doesn't prove anything for sure but it sure does make you think! There is further reading below the link too. Check it out and lets raise hell and get some answers.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An error with an electronic voting system gave President Bush 3,893 extra votes in suburban Columbus, elections officials said.
Franklin County's unofficial results had Bush receiving 4,258 votes to Democrat John Kerry's 260 votes in a precinct in Gahanna. Records show only 638 voters cast ballots in that precinct.
Bush actually received 365 votes in the precinct, Matthew Damschroder, director of the Franklin County Board of Elections, told The Columbus Dispatch.
State and county election officials did not immediately respond to requests by The Associated Press for more details about the voting system and its vendor, and whether the error, if repeated elsewhere in Ohio, could have affected the outcome.
Bush won the state by more than 136,000 votes, according to unofficial results, and Kerry conceded the election on Wednesday after acknowledging that 155,000 provisional ballots yet to be counted in Ohio would not change the result. (Full Ohio results)
The Secretary of State's Office said Friday it could not revise Bush's total until the county reported the error.
The Ohio glitch is among a handful of computer troubles that have emerged since Tuesday's elections. (Touchscreen voting troubles reported)
Article comments
1 - Hal Pawluk
Serious computer scientists have been concerned about the electronic machines since the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) was passed. I have some links to stories in an item I blogged last December, Who Cares - I Never Vote Anyhow.
I think what might be useful is a non-partisan, civil service "Ombudsman" type of office responsible for the voting infrastructure.
Another useful reform would be having independent state redistricting bodies, although this would have to be done at the state level.
As far as today goes, I agree that the computer systems are eminently hackable, some systems have no traceability, and over-all, there's no mechanism to ensure the integrity of the system.
But politicians, our representatives, would never lie, cheat or steal, would they?
2 - JR
It seems like after such a long and contentious election, America doesn't want to deal with the possibility that someone cheated. Kind of like in 1945 when, after six years of war, nobody wanted to deal with the Soviets. Stamina isn't this country's strong suit.