Republic Square
Worry About Election Fraud Not Voter Impersonation
RECEIVED Tue., March 17, 2009
Dear Austin Chronicle,
Re: “After All-Nighter, Senate Passes Voter ID,” [News, March 13] by Lee Nichols: Voter impersonation is a rare crime. The real and proven crime is election fraud. Voting-machine computer software is posing as tangible ballots; this is the real fraud in our election system. It is not the voters who are fraudulent; it is the continued use of secret vote-counting electronic voting machines that is ripe with fraud. The difference is one of scale: Voter fraud is retail, and election fraud is wholesale. It is much easier for a single crook to rig thousands of votes through invisible computer software than for him to alter election outcomes at the polls.
If the Texas Legislature is serious about ensuring fair elections, there is no shortage of examples of election fraud which reveal the real problems. Voter ID is a red herring that not only disenfranchises voters but, worse, ignores the current crisis in our election system that is secret vote-counting by electronic and optical-scan voting machines.
The simplest and most transparent way to count votes is with a voter-marked paper ballot that is counted by citizens by hand in full public view at the precinct level. With proper citizen oversight and safeguards, this is the fairest way to ensure accurate vote tallies.
Just a few weeks ago, a German high court determined that using electronic voting machines was unconstitutional because it is not transparent and requires the voter to have "blind faith" in technology. Democracies in Europe have a better grasp of voting transparency than we do here in America. Real Texans demand fair and transparent elections, too.
Trusting e-vote machines to count votes accurately is like trusting your Internet service provider to eliminate spam.
Texas legislators should quit harassing voters and focus on the much greater crime of election fraud.
Re: “After All-Nighter, Senate Passes Voter ID,” [News, March 13] by Lee Nichols: Voter impersonation is a rare crime. The real and proven crime is election fraud. Voting-machine computer software is posing as tangible ballots; this is the real fraud in our election system. It is not the voters who are fraudulent; it is the continued use of secret vote-counting electronic voting machines that is ripe with fraud. The difference is one of scale: Voter fraud is retail, and election fraud is wholesale. It is much easier for a single crook to rig thousands of votes through invisible computer software than for him to alter election outcomes at the polls.
If the Texas Legislature is serious about ensuring fair elections, there is no shortage of examples of election fraud which reveal the real problems. Voter ID is a red herring that not only disenfranchises voters but, worse, ignores the current crisis in our election system that is secret vote-counting by electronic and optical-scan voting machines.
The simplest and most transparent way to count votes is with a voter-marked paper ballot that is counted by citizens by hand in full public view at the precinct level. With proper citizen oversight and safeguards, this is the fairest way to ensure accurate vote tallies.
Just a few weeks ago, a German high court determined that using electronic voting machines was unconstitutional because it is not transparent and requires the voter to have "blind faith" in technology. Democracies in Europe have a better grasp of voting transparency than we do here in America. Real Texans demand fair and transparent elections, too.
Trusting e-vote machines to count votes accurately is like trusting your Internet service provider to eliminate spam.
Texas legislators should quit harassing voters and focus on the much greater crime of election fraud.
Jenny Clark
VoteRescue.org
VoteRescue.org