HBO special raises questions about electronic voting
Thursday, November 2, 2006
Tom Dorsey
courier-journal.com
If the voting booth is the cathedral of democracy, then the ballot machines are the tabernacles in which we place our faith in the system.
Tonight, just five days before an election, HBO casts serious doubt about putting too much confidence in the new computerized voting and counting systems.
Even if you don't subscribe to HBO, you should be aware of what "Hacking Democracy," from 9 to 10:30 p.m., has to say.
Lou Dobbs has been harping on the topic on his 6 p.m. CNN newscast for months, and congressional hearings and several other groups have raised serious questions about what's happening.
It's a nonpartisan concern. Republicans and Democrats alike are upset, and both could be casualties.
If what we see tonight is accurate, it would be easy for someone from either party -- or anybody with an agenda -- to electronically fix an election.
The most amazing part of this report is that the information wasn't uncovered by a congressional probe, a journalistic investigation or even a whistleblower. It was uncovered by a grandma from Seattle.
It's a lesson in citizen democracy that people who wonder what the average person can do ought to watch.
Her name is Bev Harris, and when she heard things about electronic voting she didn't like, she asked local election board members for explanations. She wasn't satisfied with what they said, so she decided to educate herself and find the answers. She had no staff, no budget, just a desire to get at the truth.
What she discovered in states from Florida to Texas, Ohio, Georgia, California and Maryland were hundreds of reports about votes being mishandled and maybe illegally changed, although that hasn't been proved.
In one county in Florida in the 2000 presidential race, she points out that a computerized election result registered a negative 16,022 votes for Al Gore. That's impossible, of course, but there it was.
Harris learned that the Diebold Corp. in Ohio made the machines that were used to count 40 percent of the votes in that election. The firm insisted its machines and software were secure. Harris stumbled on a company Web site that laid out a software blueprint that would have made hackers drool.
She took the data to a computer expert at Johns Hopkins University who said Diebold's machines lacked the security features to prevent tampering. In other words, someone with enough computer savvy could change people's votes.
National Public Radio reported recently that other computer experts were able to change votes with a Palm Pilot.
A computer analyst on the HBO program demonstrates how votes could be electronically stolen without election officials ever knowing it happened.
Worse yet, Harris discovered that many boards of elections sign contracts with voting-machine manufacturers forbidding them to check the software used in the machines.
Diebold has demanded HBO run disclaimers, claiming the report is riddled with errors and inaccuracies. HBO has rejected the request.
"Hacking Democracy" is too long by 30 minutes at least and lets its own politics show in a few places. Still, the suspicions raised by this one-woman crusade ought to make voters sit up and ask questions like Harris did.
'The OC' is back
"The OC," the teenage soap about life and love in a rich Southern California beachfront community, will have a shortened fourth season starting at 9 tonight on Fox that could be its last.
Fox decided to bring the melodrama back, but only committed to 16 episodes since the series had been falling in the ratings. Tonight the players cope with the death of Marissa and begin going in new directions. Corey Price of Louisville, a 2005 St. Xavier High School grad, will appear in the opener.
"The OC" presents Fox with a dilemma. Fox, like all the broadcast TV networks, is graying. The average age of a Fox viewer is now almost 40, according to industry trade journal Media Life.
Even the age of the average person watching "American Idol" is close to 40, which is surprising. Many of Fox's bread-and-butter hit shows, such as "24," "Prison Break" and "House," attract 40-and-over audiences.
Fox would like to have the younger viewers that "The OC" attracts, but since the ratings for the show are dropping, the network has made only a limited commitment to it.
Like other media companies, Fox is learning that young viewers are elusive and that it might make more sense to count on the chickens it can hatch. Even advertisers, always interested in a young audience, are more willing to sponsor shows with more viewers, even if those viewers are a little older.
Also tonight
The most-watched Thursday night programs in the Louisville area are usually "CSI" and "Grey's Anatomy," but they may get a run for their ratings when ESPN airs the big college football showdown between the University of Louisville and West Virginia at 7:30.
"Louisville Life" visits the Muhammad Ali Center, the Festival of Faiths and checks in with historian Tom Owen at 7:30 on KET2.
Selma Hayek, the executive producer of "Ugly Betty," guest-stars in a recurring role on the show at 8 on ABC.
"Rock Hudson: Tall, Dark and Handsome" looks at the movie star's life at 9 on KET1.
The creators of the "Jackass" TV series and movies launch "Rob and Big," an odd-couple reality show about pro skateboarder Rob Dyrdek and his bodyguard and best friend at 10:30 on MTV.
Tom Dorsey's column runs Monday through Saturday. Call him at (502) 582-4474 or e-mail him at tdorsey@courier-journal.com.
Online: Ask Tom a question at courier-journal.com/tom |
