Felonious Bunk
You can’t throw a rock on the information superhighway* these days without hitting a story about the troubled financial institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But what about Votey McVotersons and our troubled democracy? Shouldn’t we (and by “we,” I mean “we the people”) be as concerned with Votey as we are with Fannie and Freddie?
Ohio attorney Cliff Arnebeck, himself a victim of voter suppression attempts in Ohio in 2006, is very concerned. As is computer security expert and Republican, Stephen Spoonamore, who along with Cliff held a press conference yesterday that they hope will go a long way in protecting the integrity of the 2008 election.
Steve Heller listened in to the conference and has all the details cross-posted at Velvet Revolution, Velvet Revolution’s Election Protection Strike Force, and BradBlog.
Arnebeck has asked that a stay placed on an election case filed in 2004 be lifted, and Spoonamore, will serve as his expert witness, having a tremendous amount of experience in data security.
The case, as well as Arnebeck’s allegations, weave a fascinating web that involves GOP operatives in Ohio and Washington (does the name Karl Rove mean anything to you?) and both Arnebeck and Spoonamore note that the fraudulent patterns evident in the 2004 election should have triggered an investigation.
And it would have IF the state of our democracy was as important to some people as the state of our economy. Instead, the almighty dollar is protected by oversight and audits and investigations while our democracy is left to languish unprotected from the security flaws that make hijacking an election easy.
You’ve heard the proponents of electronic voting say it’s too expensive to replace the bad machines with an election system that includes oversight and audit capabilities. Who’s going to pay for it, they whine. Really? That’s the type of short-sighted nonsense you’re concerned with?
The economic health of this country is no more important than the health of our democracy. They are equally important - and seriously intertwined, as noted in the following clip - taken from the Uncounted DVD extras - of Bruce O’Dell, who is entrusted to work securing extensive financial transactions. In it, O’Dell reiterates the point Spoonamore made during yesterday’s conference - if what goes on with our election systems went on in the banking environment, alarm bells would be ringing, evidence would be collected, investigations would be flying, and the press would be on it. And why.
*Not Recommended - Monitor damage potential is high.