A while back the Miami Herald published my op-ed piece on the perils of electronic voting machines in which I wrote:
The machinery of our democracy must not be entrusted to a handful of unaccountable vendors and a revolving door of election officials-cum-lobbyists peddling unproven and untested “solutions.”
Fast forward four years and the General Accountability Office is investigating the 18,000 undervotes in Florida’s 13th Congressional District. And while he’s past his prime, Dan Rather’s report shows e-voting still is not ready for prime time.
Meanwhile, the folks at Voter Action are taking action. They have issued a public call for a congressional investigation of voting machine companies:
Last night’s broadcast by Dan Rather Reports of “The Trouble with Touch Screens” raises serious questions as to whether US voting systems companies have engaged in commercial fraud by knowingly marketing defective products to jurisdictions throughout the country. It also serves as a wake-up call to the nation of the dangers associated with the outsourcing of key election functions to private vendors. Voter Action today calls on the United States Congress to launch a full investigation into the increasing influence and control that private companies wage in the way we conduct our elections and to determine whether certain US voting systems companies have committed crimes under federal and state anti-fraud statutes which should be referred to the appropriate authorities for prosecution.
For more info, click here.
To sign a petition in support of a congressional investigation, click here.
