Perhaps the most sobering thing and the most troubling thing that weighs upon our minds as the 2008 election day approaches is that we can no longer feel secure with the notion that the results of the election really will reflect the votes actually cast at the polling places. The experience in Ohio in 2004, the subject of a long delayed lawsuit, concerning electronic manipulation of voting machine data is unfortunately far more real and far more serious than the ruminations of conspiracy theorists. In fact, voting data is routinely transmitted via internet with less encryption and security that are bank deposits. No one can really explain why this laxity continues. No one can adequately explain why electronic voting machines are still being used in critical elections in light of the poor security standards.
In this light, a translated quote from Josef Stalin is appropriate:
"You know, comrades," says Stalin, "that I think in regard to this: I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this —- who will count the votes, and how."
As US voters go to the polls in an election that may be the most significant, historic and important contest of a century, the doubt lingers whether it will be those who cast the votes who decide the outcome, or whether it will be those who manipulate and "count" the votes that will decide the outcome as happened in the elections that resulted in placing George W. Bush in the Oval Office.
A recent survey of respected historians yielded the consensus of more than 60% who clearly identified George W. Bush as the worst President that the US has ever had. James Buchanan who bungled his way and the country into civil war was the only close competitor in the minds of those historians. More than 80% noted the impact of the G. W. Bush presidency as wrenching the US from a leadership position in the world and overseeing the fundamental weaking of the US and global economic structure.
Therefore, we can only hope that the wil of the people will be manifest in the election outcome. The country has paid a terrible price for allowing George W. Bush to occupy the White House when it is by no means clear that he actually won the election. At least if the true vote yields a McCain presidency, then the public would have no one to blame but themselves when McCain follows in the footsteps of his predecessor. An Obama win would raise the hope of a serious examination of the electoral process and a drive to re-establish a basis for public confidence in the electoral process. Perhaps a thorough and complete examination of evidence concerning voting data manipulation can help restore that sacred trust that has been lost during the Bush/Rove era.
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