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06 November 2012 By Stephen
Lendman "Well, he might have," said Mark
Crispin Miller on his blog site. He doesn't know. Nor
do other voters. Corporate owned, programmed and
manipulated electronic voting machines control
things. The Carter Center monitors
elections globally. It refuses to do so in America
because free, fair and open standards don't exist. Jimmy Carter calls Venezuela's
electoral process "the best in the world." He said
America's is "one of the worst." He cited money power
controlling them. Others call US elections shams.
They lack legitimacy. Nothing about them reflects
democracy. Duopoly power controls things. People have
no say. Half the electorate usually opts out for good
reason. Candidates are pre-selected. Key
outcomes are predetermined. Media scoundrels suppress
truth. Information voters most need goes unreported.
Horse managed news and race journalism substitute. Voter disenfranchisement is rife.
Millions are peremptorily stricken from rolls.
Violations prohibited under the 1965 Voting Rights Act
are commonplace. It prohibits states from imposing
any "voting qualification or prerequisite to voting,
or standard, practice, or procedure (that may) deny or
abridge the right of any citizen….to vote on account
of race or color." Intimidation not to vote or
illegal deterrence happens often. Vote caging delists
minorities for not answering "do not forward"
registered mail sent to prior residences. Millions of Americans can't vote
because of past criminal records, no matter how minor.
Millions more can't because they're incarcerated. Elections are privatized.
Corporate America runs them. Touchscreen electronic
machines control voting. They're used to steal. It's
easy. Manipulation controls things. Vetting isn't done. Verifiable
receipts aren't provided. Votes cast for candidate A
can count twice for candidate B. There's no way to
check. Corporate run machines are
inherently flawed. They're designed that way. They're
used to steal. Investigative journalist Greg
Palast said "get ready for massive voter fraud." He
expects 5.9 million "spoiled" or otherwise not counted
votes. On November 5, Roger Johnson
headlined "How I Hacked An Electronic Voting Machine."
"What do you need to rig an
election," he asked? "A basic knowledge of electronics
and $30 worth of RadioShack gear" works fine. Imagine how much easier it is by
manipulating software to elect corporate choices. Johnson heads the Argonne
National Laboratory Vulnerability Assessment Team. He
knows how simple it is to steal votes. In Harper's November issue,
Victoria Collier headlined "How to Rig an Election,"
saying "The GOP aims to paint the country red." Rigging is as old as elections.
Today it's done with electronic ease. Privatized
elections were instituted without public knowledge or
consent. Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting
leaves no paper trail. High-tech ballot box stuffing
follows. It's done secretly and not reported. Collier
calls it the "electoral equivalent of a drone strike."
In 1996, Republican Chuck Hagel suspiciously defeated
Nebraska's popular Democrat governor Ben Nelson. At stake was a US Senate seat.
Polls suggested a close race. Hagel won by 15 points.
Few Nebraskans knew about Hagel's ties. He was part
owner, chairman and CEO of Election Systems & Software
(ES&S). It counted Nebraska's votes
electronically. At the time it was called American
Information Systems. AIS' parent company founder,
Michael McCarthy, was Hagel's campaign treasurer. His
easy victory made winning suspect. His own company
installed him. Hagel, in fact, never disclosed
his business ties. A Senate Ethics Committee
investigation was requested. It was rejected.
America's system is so corrupted, voters "have no
ability to know with certainty who wins any given
race, from dogcatcher to president." Nor can ballot initiatives and
referenda results be verified. On November 6, major
issues are at stake in different states. They include
fracking, GMO labeling, abortion and gay marriage
rights, as well as real electoral reform. Corporate controlled faith-based
elections have no legitimacy. They assure dark age
democracy. In other words, none at all. In 2003,
Ohio-based Diebold's CEO, Walden O'Dell, promised and
delivered Ohio for George Bush. Kerry defeated him in Ohio and
nationally. Vote tallies claimed otherwise. Nearly 17
million new voters registered to participate. Surveys
showed most supported Kerry. Bush's approval rating
hovered around 40%. Up to then, no president since
Harry Truman won a second term with less than 50%.
Final tallies showed Bush got 11.6 million more votes
than in 2000. He defeated Kerry by three million.
Florida and Ohio made the difference. Mark Crispin Miller's book
"Fooled Again: The Real Case for Electoral Reform"
discussed massive electoral fraud. He exposed
progressive media denial in publications like Nation
magazine. Ohio and Florida were stolen in
2000 and 2004. Pollster Lou Harris called Ohio 2004 as
dirty as he ever saw. Exit polls gave Kerry an
insurmountable lead. Final tallies in 30 states
differed from exit polls. They're known for accuracy.
Gallup vice president David Moore said they
consistently show stronger Democrat support than
election results. Fraud explains why. In April 2011, Jonathan Simon's
article headlined "To the American Media: Time to Face
the Reality of Election Rigging," saying: "How does the Big Lie flourish
and prosper?" It persists behind a wall "of
denial….The gruesome truth is that American elections
can be rigged and are being rigged because the
American media treats election rigging as something
that - all evidence notwithstanding -could never
happen here." It's commonplace. Media
scoundrels won't discuss it. Some progressive ones
won't touch it. Neither will prominent figures who
know better. Most cheated Democrats back off.
Kerry told Mark Crispin Miller he won in 2004.
Publicly he denied saying it. Few politicians are
profiles in courage. They'd rather grab what they can
and stay silent. Without real electoral reform,
legitimate elections aren't impossible. Rampant fraud
made Bush president twice. He lost both times. In Florida, Governor Jeb Bush
assured it. So did Secretary of State Katherine Harris
in 2000. For services rendered, she became
congressional representative for Florida's 13th
district. Electronic ease can install anyone. In 2002, Republicans regained
Senate control. Diebold voting machines defeated
Democrat Senator Max Cleland. He had a comfortable
lead but lost. Neocon Saxby Chamblis replaced him. On November 6, will Obama or
Romney win? Polls show Obama with a slight lead. Does
it matter if big money wants Romney? Wall Street does.
Major banks are his largest contributors. Corporate controlled electronic
voting machine companies will have final say. On
October 20, Forbes magazine headlined "Romney Family
Investment Ties to Voting Machine Company That Could
Decide The Election Causing Concern." On October 24, the Washington
Post reported the same thing. So did Free Press.org on
September 27. Texas-based Hart InterCivic provides
voting machines for local governments nationwide. It
has ties to Bain Capital, Romney's former company. Most of its directors come from
private equity firm, HIG Capital. It's heavily
invested in Hart. Who is HIG Capital, asked Free
Press? Founder Tony Tamer used to work at Bain. Two other partner/directors (John
Bolduc and Douglas Berman) are Romney bundlers "along
with former Bain and HIG manager Brian Shortsleeve." HIG Capital employees contributed
$338,000 to Romney's campaign. Bain gave him only
$268,000. "Will Mitt's cronies steal our democracy the
way they stole our jobs," asked Free Press? It discussed the Spanish-based
voting machine company Scytl contracted to count 25%
of the November 6 vote. It has Booz Allen, venture
capital and intelligence community ties. It "emerged
as the most mysterious election counting company in
this presidential election." Its Baltimore, MD sales office
operates from a "virtual office which has a shared
secretary and serves as a mail drop." "The ties of Hart Intercivic to
Romney fund-raisers and Bain alumni should cause
concern in the Obama re-election campaign. So, should
the mysterious Spanish owned company, Scytl, with a US
operation that seems to be an front." Close elections favor
Republicans. Rigged ones make it easy. Will money
power combined with electronic manipulation decide
who'll be president and win key Senate, House,
Gubernatorial, and other state and local races? Expect the worst. It's likely.
The best democracy money can buy wins every time. It's
done with electronic ease. It's the American way. Stephen Lendman lives in
Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces
America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and
Class War"
http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html Visit his
blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to
cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on
the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive
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