I'm still concerned that the 2004 election could be stolen by rigged electronic voting machines. I just read on blackboxvoting.org: (-16000 votes?)
Good morning.
My name is Eric Smith, and I'm a journalist in Tokyo.
This is not a "spam" letter -- I've sought you out because I believe that you personally, along with a small handful of others, may hold our collective fate -- perhaps our very lives -- in your hands. What you do about about the contents of this email may have the most profound impact on our collective future of anything you will ever do.
Billionaire George Soros, in a recent Post interview, called this "...the central focus of my life... a matter of life and death". In one stroke, he donated $5 MILLION dollars to the cause -- you'll find a link to the story below.
The import of this cannot be overstated. Please excuse me if this seems to be hyperbole; I'm deeply frightened by recent events, and want to assure you the threat is very real and very grave.
After three years of following relevent stories, I've come to a chilling, unshakeable conclusion: America's elections are being quietly, deliberately and PERMANENTLY subverted on behalf of extremists with a radical and dangerous agenda.
Assuming you weren't already aware of this, before you dismiss it out of hand, I beg you to keep an open mind long enough to read the well-documented stories below. I'm utterly convinced you will arrive at the same inescapable conclusion, and, if so, I'd like you to take immediate and sustained action as described below.
Perhaps the most damning evidence of what I'm telling you lies in a series of "smoking gun" internal emails from Diebold, a manufacturer of electronic voting systems. As you've probably heard, the company has begun a desperate attempt at suppressing the distribution of these emails on the Internet, in a series of gag lawsuits now being fought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
One of these emails -- from Lana Hires to Global Election Systems (now Diebold) -- baldly states how 16 THOUSAND e-votes for Gore were "disappeared" during the 2000 Presidential election. Hires frantically asks how she should explain this to an auditor:
> * I need some answers! Our department is being audited by the County. I have been waiting for someone to give me an explanation as to why Precinct 216 gave Al Gore a minus 16022 when it was uploaded. Will someone please explain this so that I have the information to give the auditor instead of standing here "looking dumb"
Additional excerpts from the Diebold internal emails:
> * For a demonstration I suggest you fake it. Progam them both so they look the same, and then just do the upload fro the AV. That is what we did in the last AT/AV demo.
>
> * Right now you can open GEMS' .mdb file with MS-Access, and alter its contents. That includes the audit log. This isn't anything new.
>
> * Elections are not rocket science. Why is it so hard to get things right! I have never been at any other company that has been so miss managed.
>
> * Johnson County, KS will be doing Central Count for their mail in ballots. They will also be processing these ballots in advance of the closing of polls on election day. They would like to log into the Audit Log an entry for Previewing any Election Total Reports. They need this, to prove to the media, as well as, any candidates & lawyers, that they did not view or print any Election Results before the Polls closed. However, if there is a way that we can disable the reporting functionality, that would be even better.
These staggering messages are just the tip of a very scary iceberg of mind-boggling proportions. Consider this story, where author Bev Harris rigs an historic election on a Diebold "Accuvote" machine (currently installed in 37 states) and posts her step-by-step, diagrammed summary online showing it's not just possible -- it's easy:
"Inside A U.S. Election Vote Counting Program"
scoop.co.nz
These unauditable, easily hacked electronic voting machines are being installed across the country in preparation for the 2004 election, as per the characteristically disingenuously-named "Help America Vote Act" President Bush mandated in the wake of the 2000 debacle.
Additional background can be found in the following explosive exposes:
"Diebold - The face of modern ballot tampering"
by Faun Otter
bartcop.com
"If You Want To Win An Election, Just Control The Voting Machines"
by Thom Hartmann
commondreams.org
"How George W. Bush Won the 2004 Presidential Election"
By Sandeep S. Atwal
infernalpress.com
"Safeguarding the Vote"
By Doug Pibel
yesmagazine.org./26courage/pibel.htm
"Electronic Voting Machines Blasted by Scientists, Hacked by Author"
scoop.co.nz
"Soros Pledges Millions"
newsday.com
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Equally weighty are the attempts by Congressman Rush Holt to sponsor a Bill to counter these worries. Although it has won broad Democratic support, it doesn't stand a chance of ever surviving in the currently rightist-dominated Congress:
holt.house.gov
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If, after reading these articles, you are as convinced as I am that our very political foundations are in jeopardy, I beg you to take action:
1. Please circulate these links as widely as possible, to friends, fellow activists and the media. These news stories MUST be kept in the public eye.
2. Tell your Congressional representatives to support Rep. Rush Holt's "Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003 (H.R. 2239)":
holt.house.gov
visi.com
3. There are three companies making secure voting machines, ones with a verifiable paper trail. Advance these companies as alternatives to Diebold, ES&S and Sequioa. In your community, district and state, press upon your representatives to demand ONLY certifiable, voter-verifiable machines:
accupoll.com
Chet Noblett, Executive VP:
cnoblett@accupol.com
(714) 473-6736.
aitechnology.com
Cynthia Chu, sales:
cchu@aitechnology.com
(609) 799-9388 ext. 128.
vogueelection.com
info@vogueelection.com
888.761.9266
312.948.4450
4. Organize your network for a grassroots campaign to talk to the media, personal and business contacts and their Congressional representatives about secure evoting. Demand certifiable machines.
5. Urge Mr. Soros to invest in secure voting. Contact information follows:
George Soros: 180 Cantitoe, Katonah, NY 10536
phone: 914-234-7260
inquiries@soros.com
Michael Vachon, Soros Fund Management
212-397-5526 Cell: 917-679-3780
michael.vachon@soros.com
6. Download and circulate free copies of Bev Harris's ebook "Black Box Voting". The site was temporairly closed down by Diebold's legal action against the Internet Service Providers, but the book is currently being offered for free downloads here:
talion.com
I beg you to take sustained and immediate action in this regard. Our very lives may be at stake here. And, as a great modern bard once put it, "the hour is getting late".
Thank you for your time.
respectfully,
Eric A. Smith
Tokyo, Japan
03-3959-5371
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