The Tahoma Activist

"Changing the Media, One Story at a Time"

This website is your Pierce County source for progressive news and opinion. If you want to be a part of The Tahoma Activist, send all submissions here. We will print anything that makes sense and touches on the important issues of the day.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Pierce County Auditor Pat McCarthy defends use of for-profit voting machines

Yours truly took Ms. McCarthy to task for not understanding the problems of electronic voting machines and centralized vote tabulator software on Frank Blair's Equal Time, a great local show. (the link takes you to the show archive - I'm about halfway through)

My major problem with Pat is that she parrots the same official line as every other elections official: "Everythings fine, these machines are great, a little bit of error is normal, nothing to worry about, paper voting has its problems as well, don't worry, just accept that this is how it's done and we're protecting your vote."

Now I respect the fact that we have a Democratic Auditor, and she is a good woman, as far as I know, but this stuff drives me totally nuts. You can hear me in the clip becoming unhinged. I basically just feel that people in her position, with the power to make everything perfect and to spread the message of vote security, should actually do the research instead of relying on materials from the voting machine companies and their allies in big government. Paper ballots, counted by hand, work for every other country in the industrialized world, so why not here?

Why not, Ms. McCarthy? What's so special about these machines?

Here's my latest email to the Auditor:

Hi Ms. McCarthy, my name is Jeff Richardson. I was the activist that called into Equal Time yesterday during your appearance. I'm sorry that I was so intense. I spoke over you at least twice, which is bad radio and worse communication. I hope you don't take my conversational skills as evidence of poor research skills, because I do understand this issue intimately, and this democracy is presently in the grip of an administration that doesn't belong there. These people are cold-blooded killers and thieves, and that's not being partisan. That's the truth. When you say that there are a few bad apples that have to be weeded out, you neglect to recognize that most criminals that get away with crimes don't get away with them because they're geniuses. They get away with them because the people with the power to stop them choose to do nothing.

I accuse you of abdicating your responsibility to secure our most sacred of common rights, our vote, by refusing to move this issue forward. Having Sequoia machines does not prevent these criminals from flipping our votes. Having no machines would. We need to return the vote to the people that give it its legitimacy, and shilling for these multi-national corporations is not doing the peoples' business. I will use my platform as a blogger and a local activist to spread this truth, and I hope you will look into this in more detail.

I would be happy to connect you with electronic security experts not supplied by the voting machine industry to show you how dangerous this situation really is. There are also websites available that can educate you about the massive scope of this problem. They are www.blackboxvoting.org and www.votersunite.org - please avail yourself of these resources and contact me as soon as humanly possible.

Our very system of democracy depends on all of us defending the instruments that make it possible. I pray that you will have the courage and the wisdom to make the right choice.

Good luck and God bless,

Jeff Richardson
Education Director
America in Solidarity
Categories: Politics - Local


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1 Comments:

At 2:16 PM, Blogger crallspace said...

HEy,
I read about something in your town.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061606B.shtml

Very honorable. If I were a churchgoer, I may consider a place like this. Thank God for a place that will keep safe our REAL war heroes.

 

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