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:: MAX BLACK ::

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." --C.S. Lewis

"The Swiss pocket knife of conservative thought on the web..." - Eli Kardrakian

"Bookmark Max and dump your subscription to the newspaper; if you don't have a birdcage you really don't need it anyway..." - Shirley St. James

:: Sunday, June 20, 2004 ::

Pandora's Ballot Box

The 2000 election, with it's torturous manipulation of election law may very well have cracked open a Pandora's Box of vote manipulation. The American Enterprise Institute is predicting a possible 2004 election controversy:

For better or worse, the battle over the 2000 Florida election still remains with us. Billions of dollars are being spent by states to change their voting-machine systems in order to correct the perceived problems experienced in Florida. Yet much debate still exists over exactly what went wrong in Florida and whether the changes in voting machines will solve the problems or ensure an even worse disaster this November.

Gore's 2000 foray into this dangerous territory may very well affect election outcomes for many years to come. If the November election is as close as it was in 2000, look for debilitating legal challenges...a hanging chad redux complete with controversial Supreme Court rulings. In the meantime, whether you are a Democrat or Republican, pray for a decisive, unequivocal mandate from the American electorate.

As they say; it's not the votes that count but who counts the votes. This unfortunate circumstance makes me queasy.

Update: EFF has this cheery warning:

The 2004 presidential election might not be flawed like the last one was; it might be even worse. Communities across America are purchasing electronic voting (e-voting) machines, but the technology has serious security problems that aren't being addressed. Most of the machines use "black box" software that hasn't been publicly reviewed for security. Almost none provide voter-verifiable paper ballots to detect fraud. A recent analysis by several academic researchers outlines the many and varied ways that anyone from a technically proficient insider to an average voter could disrupt an e-voting system to defraud an election.

Geez, what are we here--Venezuela?

:: Max 11:45 PM [+] ::
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