Voting in America
by Bob Babson
February 28, 2005

In America, every vote should be counted correctly.  Following the General Election on November 2, 2004, we have learned that there were numerous incidents of evoting machines malfunctioning and/or being tampered with and significant voter suppression.  Congress is being asked to investigate.  In the name of preserving democracy itself, the purpose of this article is to outline two courses of action which will help prevent future voting fraud in all 50 states:

FIRST COURSE OF ACTION: Every citizen in every state should urge their state legislators to pass a law in their state to vote like they do in Oregon.  The best way to make voting honest in every state is to simply vote like they do in Oregon.  Everyone in Oregon votes by "mail in" ballot filled out in ink.  Therefore, there is a paper ballot in case a recount is necessary.  All 50 states already have absentee ballots, so why not just expand it to be 100%.  Also, it saves millions of dollars of tax payer's money because no precincts are set up and far fewer optical scanners need to be purchased.  And, there are no long lines at the precincts because there are no precincts.  You simply your ballot in the mail.  To see how simple it is to vote in Oregon, please go to Google and enter the key words: "voting Oregon" and read the articles that come up.  Official State and County web sites explain everything.  If it is a close race, or if the optical scanner breaks down, malfunctions, etc., all ballots are available for a recount.  This is why it is so important to have a paper ballot. 

THE SECOND COURSE OF ACTION: One way to learn once and for all if the software in an evoting machine is honest is for citizens in all 50 states who voted on malfunctioning evoting machines as reported in newspapers is to file lawsuits.  The fact that the evoting machine "malfunctioned" would be the necessary "probable cause" to file the lawsuit.  The citizens (plaintiffs) would simply ask the judge to take into court custody the evoting machines in question and to then appoint a nonpartisan "special master" with expertise in computers to examine the malfunctioning machines in question to learn exactly why they malfunctioned and weather or not it was an accident or premeditated voter fraud.  I believe the judge would clearly rule for this course of action to preserve democracy itself.  The special master could be ordered by the judge to not disclose any "intellectual property" secrets, but to examine the software to make sure it is properly programmed and tamper proof and report back to the judge all findings.  If misprogramming and/or tampering were found by the special master, then criminal proceedings should begin immediately for possible voting fraud.  Testimony under oath should be taken from all parties involved and all other normal discovery should also take place.  Everyday in all 50 states courts hear cases that have to do with intellectual property rights and said rights are protected and not compromised.  The above court actions investigating why evoting machines have malfunctioned could very well turn out to be the most important legal actions of our time, indeed, preserving democracy itself. 

If any voting fraud was found in the above described legal actions, then voters in other jurisdictions in all 50 states could also file lawsuits where that same model of evoting machine was used to also determine if voting fraud took place there.  Voters everywhere the same model of evoting machine is used would have "probable cause" to suspect that possibly their vote was not counted right either, and therefore could ask a judge to once again take into court custody the voting machines in question and hire a "special master" to determine if voting fraud took place.

IN SUMMARY:  If we are to preserve democracy we must act now as described above.  If you agree with this email, please forward it on to your friends and organizations that can take action, especially your state legislators and lawyer organizations.  The 2006 elections are only two years away, and if we want every vote to be counted correctly, we must act now.  Our children and grandchildren will be the beneficiaries of a free and Democratic America!