Response to NY Times Magazine cover story:"Can you count on voting machines?"

by Robert Lockwood Mills

January 6, 2008

To the Editor:

In the guise of warning readers about potential voting-machine fraud in 2008, the Times and Clive Thompson continue to misrepresent the 2004 fraud in Ohio that gave the election to the Republicans.

Mr. Thompson writes, "The earliest critiques of digital voting booths (sic) came from the fringe..." Aside from confusing booths with machines, that statement is simply false. Numerous non-partisan coalitions sent volunteers around the country in 2004 to serve as pollwatchers (I was one). The idea was to avoid a repeat of the 2000 election debacle. Most volunteers were fully cognizant of the dangers of electronic voting, and had articulated their fears loudly and clearly for months before the election.

The national media, and the Times, weren't listening, either before or after Election Day. A week later, and notwithstanding 57,000 protest calls (from "the fringe") to an 800-number in the first 48 hours, the Times dismissed all complaints as the work of "Internet bloggers" and "conspiracy theorists" in a front-page article. The tacit message was, "Pay no attention to all this talk."

Now, evidently the Times has been born again. Sorry. Right message, wrong messenger.

Robert Lockwood Mills, author/historian robertlockwoodmills.tripod.com


http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_robert_l_080106_response_to_ny_times.htm