by Bev Harris

In These Times

08/24/04

In the Alabama 2002 general election, machines made by Election Systems and Software (ES&S) flipped the governor's race. Six thousand three hundred Baldwin County electronic votes mysteriously disappeared after the polls had closed and everyone had gone home.

Democrat Don Siegelman's victory was handed to Republican Bob Riley, and the recount Siegelman requested was denied. Three months after the election, the vendor shrugged. 'Something happened. I don't have enough intelligence to say exactly what,' said Mark Kelley of ES&S. When I began researching this story in October 2002, the media was reporting that electronic voting machines are fun and speedy, but I looked in vain for articles reporting that they are accurate. I discovered four magic words, 'voting machines and glitch,' which, when entered into a search engine, yielded a shocking result: A staggering pile of miscounts was accumulating...

http://tinyurl.com/4gyap


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp