#65 September/October 2003
The Washington Free Press Washington's Independent Journal of News, Ideas & Culture
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Case Against Computerized Voting Broadens
"Software flaws stunning" says researcher
by Rodger Herbst

Ethics Commission Muffles Socialist Voice
by Linda Averill, candidate for Seattle City Council

Angel Bolanos for Seattle City Council
from Bolanos Campaign

No! To Another Status Quo Spokane Mayor
by Rob Wilkinson

Fixing California's Recall
by Robert Richie and Steven Hill

Black Box Voting

We're Number One
So Let's Teach 'em a Lesson
by Doug Collins

California Gives Workers Paid Family Leave Program
Similar legislation mandating five weeks paid leave for Washington workers has overwhelming public support
by Jamie Newman

Who's Being Selfish?
book review by B.C. Brown

The Crime of Being Poor
part one
by Paul Wright, editor, Prison Legal News

Cutting-edge political analysis
More George W. Jokes

Does the USA Intend to Dominate the World?
Excerpted transcript from a recent Andy Clark interview with Noam Chomsky for the Amsterdam Forum, a Radio Netherlands interactive discussion program

The Free Range Myth
Manufacturing Consumer Consent
by Eileen Weintraub

Fun Land Mine Facts
Better not take a stroll around Basra

Jinxy Blazer's Rainy Day Reading List

Officer Unfriendly
Unprovoked police attack on protestors sends message that violence is OK
personal account by John M. Bucher, MD

UPI Investigation Finds Cozy Industry/Government Vaccine Practices

Vaccination Decisions
Part one: Is it possible to assess vaccine safety?
by Doug Collins

Black Box Voting

The following are excerpts from the book Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering In The 21st Century. These examples help illustrate the concern with "black box" computer voting.

November 1990, Seattle, Washington--At one point several hundred ballots added to returns didn't result in any increase in the number of votes. But elsewhere, the number of votes added exceeded the number of additional ballots counted. A Republican candidate achieved an amazing surge in his absentee percentage for no apparent reason. And no one seemed to notice (until a determined Democratic candidate started demanding an answer) that the machines simply forgot to count 14,000 votes.

November 2002, Baldwin County, Alabama--No one at the voting machine company can explain the mystery votes that changed after polling places had closed, flipping the election from the Democratic winner to a Republican in the Alabama governor's race. "Something happened. I don't have enough intelligence to say exactly what," said Mark Kelley of ES&S. Baldwin County results showed that Democrat Don Siegelman earned enough votes to win the state of Alabama. All the observers went home. The next morning, however, 6,300 of Siegelman's votes inexplicably had disappeared, and the election was handed to Republican Bob Riley. A recount was requested, but denied.

It should be noted however, that not all anomalies were in favor of the Republican party.

November 1996: Bergen County, New Jersey--Democrats told Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan to come up with a better explanation for mysterious swings in vote totals. Donovan blamed voting computers for conflicting tallies that rose and fell by eight or nine thousand votes. The swings perplexed candidates of both parties. For example, the Republican incumbent, Anthony Cassano, had won by about 7,000 votes as of the day after the election but his lead evaporated later. One candidate actually lost 1,600 votes during the counting. "How could something like that possibly happen?" asked Michael Guarino, Cassano's Democratic challenger. "Something is screwed up here."



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