Aug 21: Philadelphia, PA -- Caught On Tape, The Fix Is In is a new
online video about America's flawed voting process by freelance journalist
Lynn Landes, producer of EcoTalk.org. In this 13-minute video
Landes strongly urges all political candidates to not concede their races
until they or their supporters have verified election results through the
collection of voter affidavits or signed statements in some or all
precincts. She calls these efforts, "Parallel Elections".
The video begins with a now-infamous clip of Congressman Peter King (NY-R)
on the White House lawn just before the 2004 presidential election.
"The election is over. We won." (Reporter's voice, "How do you know that?")
"It's all over, but the counting. And we'll take care of the counting," King
boasts.
Also featured are some fascinating clips of an examination of the Danaher
voting system by Pennsylvania state officials in November of 2004. In one
clip a company representative admits that, in their computer program, every
candidate's name must have a party identifier next to it. Landes notes that
this feature enables the company to skew election results across-the-board
in favor of one party over the other before the machines ever leave the
factory floor.
Landes cautions viewers not to jump to conclusions, "Most voting machine
companies have close ties to the Republican Party and most voting machine
irregularities appear to favor Republicans, but I must emphasize, that is
not always the case. Even in Republican and Democratic primaries, where the
race is between members of the same party, voting machines are exhibiting
suspicious irregularities. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party and the Green
Party’s measured response to the gravity of this situation makes one
wonder."
The film warns viewers that election officials and voting machine companies
can easily manipulate votes and not get caught. They accomplish this through
the use of the secret ballot, voting machines, and absentee or early
voting.
"It wasn't always this way," she notes.
In the first half of our
nation's history, Landes points out, elections in
America
were open and observable. It was only after the Civil War, as the right to
vote expanded to African Americans, that the voting process itself began to
recede from public view and meaningful oversight. It started with absentee
voting by the military in the 1870’s, the use of secret ballots in the
1880’s, and voting by machine in the 1890’s. Today, approximately 30% of
all voting is conducted early or by absentee, 95% of all votes are processed
by machines, and 100% of all ballots are secret and anonymous. Landes
proposes that these voting methods be rescinded and banned.
Lynn Landes is one of the nation's leading journalists on voting
technology and democracy issues. She has also written on the subject of
the environment and health. Readers can find her articles and research at
EcoTalk.org. Formerly,
Lynn was a news reporter for
DUTV and commentator for the British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Contact info: lynnlandes@earthlink.net
/ (215) 629-3553
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