Warning - I am sharing my “sacred” vote with all of you.

I voted “absentee” , since we’re heading to Toronto Sunday. There were about a dozen Diebold DRE machines set up at the infamous Greene County BOE office, and all of them occupied. A continuous flow of people were heading into the building to vote early as well. Patricia and I filled out absentee voting request applications and were “required” to show drivers licenses. She asked for a paper ballot, and was told she could not vote with one, only provisional ballots were paper (for those registering onsite at the time of voting).

Patricia voted first, and reported nothing funny. I paid very close attention to what the Diebold touchscreen DRE machines were doing. I voted a fairly conventional Democratic ticket [as is evidenced from the photos taken of the vote]. However, I voted for the Green Party candidate for Governor, Bob Fitrakis. I expect Strickland to win the Governor’s office, unless Blackwell has totally rigged it. And I know and admire Bob Fitrakis, who has fought election fraud since the 2004 election debacle. And I believe in the stand he is taking for a real democracy. You will see in the photos I took that when the summary page displayed, the system switched my vote to the Strickland/Fisher ticket. I had to look twice, because I could not believe it was happening to ME, a vigilante with a camera in hand, expecting to catch the bastards red-handed. To correct this, I had to Back button 14 screens to the first page and re-vote for Bob. The Summary, and “Print” feature both - apparently - recorded it correctly this time.

And then, handing back the keycard ballot, who knows what was actually recorded in its memory? There is absolutely no accounting possible at any point in the electronic process, and there is no chain of custody to be maintained or breached. It is all digital, there is nothing to recount.

I have worked in the computer products industry for 20 years, and this is NOT a “glitch” as the media will happily report. These are truly systematic programs. A glitch is when the screen freezes up, or displays incorrect characters or garbage. Something random. Switching your selection from one item to another item is systematic, and programmed. We should never, ever trust the results of these machines, regardless of who wins.

Let me know where else I might post these findings. I know there was a national e-voting problem site set up, and I (of all activists) cannot find that site now. It was a place to post photos and stories of good voting gone bad in 2006.

- Posted by Peter J. for USTV Media (Email Peter Here)