Reply #7: 12/20 NYTIimes Editorial: "Count Every Vote" "recount empty gesture"

[MelissaB]

For the record, the phrase "conspiracy theorist" isn't even hinted at; and no "no one expects it to change the outcome" line either.

EDITORIAL

Count Every Vote

Published: December 20, 2004

(snip)

In Ohio, where a recount of the presidential election is under way, it is becoming clear that as important as recounts are, they are not enough to ensure the integrity of our elections. Representative John Conyers Jr., a Democrat from Michigan, has charged that an employee of a company that makes vote-counting software used across the state may have tampered with one county's vote tabulator after the election to make the recount come out right. If people other than election officials have free access to the tabulation software, it can make a recount an empty gesture.

Clearly the American election system needs significant improvement, starting with voter-verified paper trails for every vote cast electronically. In the current flawed system, the best chance we have of producing accurate results is to be on guard for manipulation of electronic voting machines and tabulation software, and to conduct conscientious recounts when the outcome is at all in doubt.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/20/opinion/20mon1.html

Thanks to EMunster here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x180158