Press Release

Will Voting Machines Vote for Us?

For Immediate Release - Contact: Fred Edwords (202) 238-9088

(Washington, D.C., December 18, 2003) As more revelations surface about how new computerized voting machines are removing citizen oversight of U.S. elections, today's January/February 2004 issue of the Humanist gives the emerging scandal cover treatment. Award-winning journalist Michael Niman tells the whole story in his "A Brave New World of Voting," explaining the corporate and political connections that are raising suspicions of fixed elections. (See the full article at: http://www.thehumanist.org/humanist/articles/nimanJanFeb04.pdf )

Americans well remember the "butterfly ballots" and "hanging chads" of the 2000 election. In response to that crisis, moves were made to render voting methods more efficient. But now that the latest high-tech gizmos have been put in place all over the nation, ominous new problems have emerged. As Niman writes, "The new machines . . . make the 2000 election's hanging chads look like litter in a toxic landfill."

First, the corporations which developed these machines continue to own and operate them, complete with proprietary control over the software. This has prevented normal citizen oversight of elections. Second, many of these machines offer no paper trail, rendering recounts impossible. Third, there are warranted suspicions that election results can be and perhaps have been manipulated.

Will American democracy meet its demise in 2004? Many European observers now think so.

To prevent such an outcome, however, the Increased Accessibility Act of 2003 (H.R. 2239) was introduced in the House of Representatives. This bill is bottled up in committee and unless it's passed soon the 2004 presidential election could make the 2000 debacle in Florida, by contrast, seem like the very emblem of fairness.

Also in the January/February 2004 Humanist, Ralph Nader writes on "Public Participation and the Erosion of Democracy," showing how, when it comes to politics and government, the corporate marketplace has virtually supplanted the free marketplace of ideas. (Contact fedwords@thehumanist.org for article)

And Barbara Dority summarizes how the Patriot Act has brought back the bad old days of CIA and FBI spying on American Citizens. (See article at: http://www.thehumanist.org/humanist/articles/dorityJanFeb04.pdf)

Request a media copy of the full magazine from  fedwords@thehumanist.org.

The Humanist (www.thehumanist.org) applies Humanism--a naturalistic and democratic outlook informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by compassion--to broad areas of social and personal concern.

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