Shoot, I read the whole article waiting to read about the monster that ate Chicago or something like that.

I guess I'll have to go watch "i, Robot" again. At least Sonny (a robot) stood up for humanity, even if our human leaders won't.

The Dems have to make voting reform #1 in their "first 100 hours", or they stink, too. They have 2 years to do it before they are hacked back into the minority.

We had at least one precinct in Nashville that had voters still in line at midnight...

shw

Shannon,.. Comment # 3

That is disgusting and shameful,..

welcome to AmeriKKKa.

I hope Rep. Conyers reads this post and our comments. He is perfectly positioned to lead the charge in investigating this mess. Such an investigation could not be charged with partisan bias, as the Democrats generally prevailed and cannot be easily charged with trying to accomplish with an investigation what they failed to do at the ballot box this election.

The whole gamut of election dirty tricks, phone jamming (read Laura Ingraham), robo-calls, etc., should be included as the topic of investigation. As these election problems play out, even without much MSM coverage, the new majority party will have no choice but to address the issue in order to seat the rest of members of Congress. The Dems have less to fear from such an investigation than the GOP.

That comment above that the Dems should be motivated to investigate this to avoid becoming a minority party again in 2008 is very appropriate. Well said!

I don't know what it is with you Americans and your pushiness.

You have to live with the decisions of elections for two, four, or six years, and yet you expect tabulated results in two, four, or six seconds instead of two, four or six days.

If your elections are in November and your inaugurations and oaths are in January, what's the rush? Why not take a week or two to count and recount paper ballots by hand? Democracy is tenuous enough as it is without putting it in the hands of corporate and special political interests (as the US media has been) all for the sake of speed. It was the rush to judgement on non-existent WMDs that got you into one particular mess.

And by the way, drop the idiotic butterfly and chad ballots. Democracies like Canada (mine), England and others mark ballots with a pencil, an "X". If you make a mistake, you ask for a new ballot. Simple and effective; sometimes the lowest technology is the best.

You have a choice: count it right, or count it fast. You can't have both.

Bookmarking to reread.

"We had at least one precinct in Nashville that had voters still in line at midnight…"

So shameful - I remember the photos of people waiting in the rain to vote in Ohio 2004. Those were powerful and MEMORABLE photos - did anyone take photos of the people waiting in line around the block or until midnight?

We endanger the anti-evote machine movement if we protest too loudly without loud evidence that resonates with the voters.

I think the proper rhetoric is that we dodged a bullet. The results are good, the republican dictatorship is being expelled, and the right thing happened.

We just don't know how the machines worked and never will unless verification becomes reality.

Call it Luck or call it a miracle ... whatever you like, but don't ignore the dangers for 2008.

We must fix the machines, but in order to do that we must convince people. Not based on the results of this election, but based upon the machines themselves, gerrymandering, and election officials.

It went better than we expected by any standard.

We must avoid the "they who cried wolf" syndrome, because it may be cast upon us unless we choose our words and arguments wisely.

We let the Fascist/Nazis Of Bu$$h I and the perpetrators of Iran/Contra walk and slither away back under the nearest rock without prosecution. Within one decade they were back in full force dismantling our democracy,.. Constitution,.. and Bill of Rights - piece by piece.

Liberals and progressives can not let the Fascists/Nazis/Neo-Cons of Bu$$h II off the hook as they readily did Bu$$h I. If these Fascists are not made to answer for their "Extra Legal Government" - "Secret Government" and "Shadow Government" activities,.. these Fascist/Nazi/Neo-Cons will be back soon to haunt us again. They must be prosecuted. They must be incarcerated. Fascists must be punished for their egregious anti-democracy plans/schemes/activities.

Bu$$hco II is not the last generation of Fascist Brown-shirt Young College Republicans to come up through the ranks. The Bu$$h family and their cronies have been at this Nazi game for a long - long time. It is the only game they know,.. Fascism and self enrichment are the only GODs they truly worship.

Remember Prescott Bu$$h ? He was found in violation of "Trading With the Enemy Act". He gave aid and support to the enemy,.. Nazi Germany,.. the USA let Prescott Bu$$h walk,.. he was given a free pass. Did we enable/endorse/encourage the next generations of American Nazis - al la GHWB #I & GWB #2. Prescott Bu$$h should have been prosecuted to the full extent of the law. His ill begotten gains should have been seized by the US Government. The Fascism of The House of Bu$$h would have been nipped in the bud. To our detriment,.. to the mockery of democracy,.. we allow these Fascist criminals to run free with out any sanctions. Without constant monitoring. Without discipline,.. without control.

Is it any wonder the American Republican Nazi/Fascists/Corporatist Political Party keeps popping back into the picture ?

"We will not impeach the pResident,.."

WTF

At sunrise,.. before breakfast,.. gwb should meet his firing squad,.. close this ugly chapter of American history,.. and rapidly move on. Begin to clean up the mess this man/child/infant/selfish frat-boy-brat left for us to rectify.

Bob Dog #11, I hope that you will send your post as a letter to the Editor of the NYTimes. well-said.

We've been asking those same questions for a couple of years here at Brad Blog. Why is the rush to announce results more important than accuracy, transparency and accountability (and re-countability? it is madness.

I was a precinct inspector this election in my county. My precinct was one of two at one particular polling place. We each had one electronic voting machine. It required 45 minutes to set each one of them up, and 30 minutes each to take them down. Not a single voter used either machine. What a waste! The good news is that we had no hanging chads, no erroneously purged voters, no one was denied the ability to vote, we had plenty of provisional ballots, and we had an 800 hotline for anyone who had a question about their status on the voting lists. No one was put on hold, and everyone's inquiries were answered fully and satisfactorily. It's just not that hard to run a good, clean election. The problem comes when there are forces at work to prevent this from happening.

E-voting is NOT the answer.

E-voting causes MASSIVE voter disenfranchisement.

Everywhere across the country, electric power companies are straining to keep up with demand. Brown-outs occur daily and sometimes several times a day in my town. Blackouts are frequent enough to be expected at least once or twice a month - more in very hot or very cold seasons.

This is JUST ONE reason among many that make E-voting disasterous.

Computers need a moderately cool temperature to run properly and they are affected by humidity. Many precincts do not have air-conditioning. Many precincts are in humid areas.

Damn. What's wrong with our gov't officials? I know some of them really are in on a crooked deal looking for immediate financial gain [see Kenneth Blackwell], but too many seem to be just plain dumb and oblivious.

Now is the time to pull out all the stops & demand a return to paper ballots. Demand the U.S. take the Canadian method for paper ballot elections. Cost: about $1.81 per vote. With the EVMs we spend how much per vote? Possibly $30 or more - and the software can be tampered with to rig an election, so our votes are largely meaningless.

Yes the Democrats won this election --- the Repubs couldn't steal this one [completely] as before because of the vigilant activists on the ground with eyes wide open.

The Repubs couldn't steal this one [completely] as before because We The People made it known before the sElection that We were a LANDSLIDE against the current corruption & admin.

Now we have to remind the Democrats that they & the rest of Congress & the pResident WORK FOR US, not the other way around.

Email - FAX - write Letters - Go in person to Congresspeople's offices - and do all the same to the MEDIA.

Remember Thomas Jefferson and the other founding fathers who warned us & left instructions for us in case we found ourselves in this situation.

"When patience has begotten false estimates of its motives, when wrongs are pressed because it is believed they will be borne, resistance becomes morality." --Thomas Jefferson to M. deStael, 1807. ME 11:282

"Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God." --Thomas Jefferson: his motto.

"The oppressed should rebel, and they will continue to rebel and raise disturbance until their civil rights are fully restored to them and all partial distinctions, exclusions and incapacitations are removed." --Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Religion, 1776. Papers 1:548

Kira # 13

As a Brit living in Canada for 41 years, I have to say that paper ballots and pencils are the only way to go. The chance for fraud is almost impossible as everything is done on a 'hand to hand' basis.

You walk into the polling station, receive your ballot and proceed to the booth where you mark it and then post it into the box.

Granted, we only have to deal with who we want for whichever election it is at the time. It could be a national election to decide our government, or a local election for mayor etc, but the process is the same.

We never have to vote for issues that concern a particular district or state, so it's hard to imagine how you would proceed with that. Guess your paper ballots would have to be a lot bigger than ours...lol..!!!!

Mar #14
Thank you!

So, the ballots would have to be bigger. That's a teeny-tiny problem compared to this EVM Fiasco.

I say DUMP THE DAMN MACHINES!!! Count the ballots in about 4 hours. What could be easier?