tom_thinks

Paul Krugman once again hits the nail on the head, in this piece from his NY Times column.

Some states, worried about the potential for abuse with voting machines that leave no paper trail, have banned their use this November. But Florida, which may well decide the presidential race, is not among those states, and last month state officials rejected a request to allow independent audits of the machines' integrity. A spokesman for Gov. Jeb Bush accused those seeking audits of trying to "undermine voters' confidence," and declared, "The governor has every confidence in the Department of State and the Division of Elections."

Krugman goes on to bring up the 'felon' purge list where as readers of this blog know disproportionately disenfranchised Democratic leaning African-Americans while limiting the disenfranchisment of Hispanics, who lean heavily Republican in this state, to 61 individuals.

<>Let's not be coy. Jeb Bush says he won't allow an independent examination of voting machines because he has "every confidence" in his handpicked election officials. Yet those officials have a history of slipshod performance on other matters related to voting and somehow their errors always end up favoring Republicans. Why should anyone trust their verdict on the integrity of voting machines, when another convenient mistake could deliver a Republican victory in a high-stakes national election?
This shouldn't be a partisan issue. Think about what a tainted election would do to America's sense of itself, and its role in the world. In the face of official stonewalling, doubters probably wouldn't be able to prove one way or the other whether the vote count was distorted - but if the result looked suspicious, most of the world and many Americans would believe the worst. I'll write soon about what can be done in the few weeks that remain, but here's a first step: if Governor Bush cares at all about the future of the nation, as well as his family's political fortunes, he will allow that independent audit.

Now we just need to keep banging that nail. Several prominent politicians have joined the cause, but we need more. Senate candidate (FL) Betty Castor has called for an investigation and that's one of the reasons she has my vote. If you haven't already write your member of congress and your senators to Demand an Investigation!