Abstract

The Fight Goes On

The article comments on the need for examination, reform, and oversight of the national voting complex, and concern of irregularities in the November 2 vote. Two minor presidential candidates, David Cobb of the Green Party and Michael Badnarik of the Libertarian Party, requested a recount in Ohio. E-voting--particularly with machines made by Diebold, a firm headed by a GOP fundraiser that refuses to disclose its source code--stir skepticism. But suspicion needs reality checks. Stolen election proponents point to Warren County, Ohio, where Bush bagged a net gain of 41,000 votes and where local officials barred reporters from the counting room on election night, claiming the Feds had warned of a terrorist attack. Steven Freeman of the University of Pennsylvania wrote a paper claiming that discrepancies between the media consortium exit polls and the vote count in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania were a "250 million to one" shot. But "systematic fraud or mistabulation," he wrote, "is a premature conclusion." He urged investigation. On the other hand, pollster John Zogby says his exit polls had Bush leading in Ohio and Florida. A recount in Ohio is well and good. But it probably won't change the results, and it surely won't fix the deep flaws of a system that does provoke justifiable suspicion.