In this year of the most important election of our time, CNN has just reported that in the past election only 30% of overseas military votes were counted and they are expecting the same this year. This is the worst example of voter fraud in the world. How can George Bush and John McCain justify having our troops overseas fighting for freedom and democracy, and then have their votes not be counted due to circumstances beyond their control? They cite things like improper registration in their hometowns and delays in the mail taking them past deadlines to be counted. If I remember correctly, the first time Bush stole the election, military votes were thrown out because they came in late. It was just explained that once the votes are cast overseas, they have to be sent to the soldier or sailor's home state, then verified that they are registered properly. In my opinion, if you are serving in the military for this country, you are automatically registered, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
The fact that these votes have to be separated and sent to a home state shows the major flaw of the election process. The United States likes to travel all over the world spreading democracy, teaching other countries about holding fair elections, and we have one of the most corrupt systems of voting there is when it comes to electing our leader. What the hell is the electoral college for? In every other election in this country, be it for political office or issues, the majority wins. But for President of The United States of America, we have a "special system" that allows the election to be manipulated state by state. It has been a long time since we had an election where the electoral college had any meaning, until the year 2000, when Al Gore had more votes than George Bush, but Bush was declared the president. Who can forget that election night when the news channels had declared Al Gore the president, and George Bush called them to say, he hasn't won my brother's state of Florida, I'm going to win that one. The rest is tainted history. Then we saw it repeated in 2004 when the head of the Republican Party in Ohio, Ken Blackwell, guaranteed George Bush he would win that state before the voting began. We have since learned this was due to voting machines that were manufactured by an Ohio company named Diebold, could be rigged to change votes and the outcome of the election. These machines were used in several states, and some of those states got rid if those machines and no longer use machines manufactured by Diebold. But guess what, states like Ohio and West Virginia still use them, and we already have had reports of machines changing votes in West Virginia!
In the HBO documentary, they showed how these machines can be fixed to produce any result they want, no matter how you vote. The results can be predetermined before the election takes place, even when you have a paper record showing how you voted. There are many ways to program a computer to produce the results you want, especially when every state or groups of states are using different machines. People think that voting machines can't work for this reason. But every year we hold The Kentucky Derby in May and The Breeders' Cup Championships in October. There are millions of dollars bet on these races WORLDWIDE without a single glitch in the system. Not a penny misplaced. And this system is used everyday at racetracks around the world. Let me relate an experience I had with this system.
One afternoon I placed a bet using a self-service machine, won a substantial amount of money, and instead of going to a teller to collect my winnings, I made another bet using the self-service machine again. Instead of collecting all of my winnings, I got the rest back in what is called a betting voucher. But the voucher did not drop into the slot smoothly, so I actually walked away without my winnings, only the tickets for the next race. That meant the next person that used that machine got a nice bonus when my voucher dropped down. I contacted the track officials and told them what had happened, not knowing if someone had used that machine or not. The official opened the machine and verified that the voucher was gone. He told me that they could run a trace and see if the ticket had been cashed already and if not, they could void that ticket and get my money back. He took the machine number and went upstairs to the computer room and verified the information I had given him as to the amount on the voucher. To my surprise, he came back about 15 minutes later with my money on a new voucher. I asked him how he was able to get my money back. He told me it's all about the bar codes. The machine I placed the bet on produced the voucher with enough information to give them the time, amount, and machine number where it was issued. When the person who found it took it to the teller to cash it, they were able to trace it to that teller. Fortunately for me, it had been such a short period that the teller remembered who cashed it, and that person hadn't left, so they were able to get my money back, despite that person's claim that they had won that money. Even if that person had went to a self-service machine himself, they would have had a record of the ticket being cashed, they just might not have been able to recover my money.
So what I am saying is, if they want the voting machine system to work, it will work. But that just goes to counting votes. Why is it we have a system in place that the candidate with the most votes can lose? I'm sick of hearing that Ohio determines who the president is. If that's the case, why is the rest of the country voting? If it were just whoever has the most votes wins, military personnel overseas would have their votes counted as a whole instead of being separated by state. They wouldn't have to be mailed back to the mainland from various points around the world, they could be counted at their duty station or even aboard ship. Imagine a soldier voting today and losing his life tomorrow not having his vote count because his vote was delayed by the mail, or he is no longer eligible because he gave his life for his country. Their votes should count above and beyond any other U.S. citizen, not last or not at all. After all, they are the ones whose lives depend on who is in charge.
The fact that these votes have to be separated and sent to a home state shows the major flaw of the election process. The United States likes to travel all over the world spreading democracy, teaching other countries about holding fair elections, and we have one of the most corrupt systems of voting there is when it comes to electing our leader. What the hell is the electoral college for? In every other election in this country, be it for political office or issues, the majority wins. But for President of The United States of America, we have a "special system" that allows the election to be manipulated state by state. It has been a long time since we had an election where the electoral college had any meaning, until the year 2000, when Al Gore had more votes than George Bush, but Bush was declared the president. Who can forget that election night when the news channels had declared Al Gore the president, and George Bush called them to say, he hasn't won my brother's state of Florida, I'm going to win that one. The rest is tainted history. Then we saw it repeated in 2004 when the head of the Republican Party in Ohio, Ken Blackwell, guaranteed George Bush he would win that state before the voting began. We have since learned this was due to voting machines that were manufactured by an Ohio company named Diebold, could be rigged to change votes and the outcome of the election. These machines were used in several states, and some of those states got rid if those machines and no longer use machines manufactured by Diebold. But guess what, states like Ohio and West Virginia still use them, and we already have had reports of machines changing votes in West Virginia!
In the HBO documentary, they showed how these machines can be fixed to produce any result they want, no matter how you vote. The results can be predetermined before the election takes place, even when you have a paper record showing how you voted. There are many ways to program a computer to produce the results you want, especially when every state or groups of states are using different machines. People think that voting machines can't work for this reason. But every year we hold The Kentucky Derby in May and The Breeders' Cup Championships in October. There are millions of dollars bet on these races WORLDWIDE without a single glitch in the system. Not a penny misplaced. And this system is used everyday at racetracks around the world. Let me relate an experience I had with this system.
One afternoon I placed a bet using a self-service machine, won a substantial amount of money, and instead of going to a teller to collect my winnings, I made another bet using the self-service machine again. Instead of collecting all of my winnings, I got the rest back in what is called a betting voucher. But the voucher did not drop into the slot smoothly, so I actually walked away without my winnings, only the tickets for the next race. That meant the next person that used that machine got a nice bonus when my voucher dropped down. I contacted the track officials and told them what had happened, not knowing if someone had used that machine or not. The official opened the machine and verified that the voucher was gone. He told me that they could run a trace and see if the ticket had been cashed already and if not, they could void that ticket and get my money back. He took the machine number and went upstairs to the computer room and verified the information I had given him as to the amount on the voucher. To my surprise, he came back about 15 minutes later with my money on a new voucher. I asked him how he was able to get my money back. He told me it's all about the bar codes. The machine I placed the bet on produced the voucher with enough information to give them the time, amount, and machine number where it was issued. When the person who found it took it to the teller to cash it, they were able to trace it to that teller. Fortunately for me, it had been such a short period that the teller remembered who cashed it, and that person hadn't left, so they were able to get my money back, despite that person's claim that they had won that money. Even if that person had went to a self-service machine himself, they would have had a record of the ticket being cashed, they just might not have been able to recover my money.
So what I am saying is, if they want the voting machine system to work, it will work. But that just goes to counting votes. Why is it we have a system in place that the candidate with the most votes can lose? I'm sick of hearing that Ohio determines who the president is. If that's the case, why is the rest of the country voting? If it were just whoever has the most votes wins, military personnel overseas would have their votes counted as a whole instead of being separated by state. They wouldn't have to be mailed back to the mainland from various points around the world, they could be counted at their duty station or even aboard ship. Imagine a soldier voting today and losing his life tomorrow not having his vote count because his vote was delayed by the mail, or he is no longer eligible because he gave his life for his country. Their votes should count above and beyond any other U.S. citizen, not last or not at all. After all, they are the ones whose lives depend on who is in charge.
