Chapter 4 —Trust Our Election Officials?


 

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| Vote Fraud and Election Issues Book | Table of Contents | Site Map | Index | Summaries |

Other Chapters

| 1 — Introduction To Voting Problems | 2 — Essays On Voting Problems | 3 — Direct Recording Electronic Voting |

| 5 — Lies, Damn Lies, and Mail In Elections | 6 — Pitfalls Of Statewide Voter Registration Databases |

| 7 — Building Better Ballot Boxes | 8 — Voting Problems In The 2002 Elections | 9 — Voting Problems In The 2003 Elections |

| 10 — Voting Problems In The 2004 Elections | 11 — Voting Problems In The 2005 Elections | 12 — Voting Problems In The 2006 Elections |

| 13 — Voting Problems In The 2007 Elections | 14 — Voting Problems In The 2008 Elections | 15 — Election Web Sites And Problems |


 
Elections are only as honest as the people running them.
Electronic voting machines are no match for the natural stupidity of election officials.

In dealing with election issues, and particularly with mail in elections, one is forced to place a great deal of trust in election officials. Most are hard working, honest, and care deeply about honest elections and the preservation of ballot secrecy. But, as with any process in human affairs, there are some whose greed, arrogance, lust, or simple incompetence make them amenable to fraud and rigging elections. When that happens, and happen it does, our republic is at risk. There is also the grave problem that it is extremely difficult to separate simple incompetence from deliberate fraud in elections.

Our objective here is to present examples of such fraud, ignorance, corruption, misuse of public funds, and simple incompetence, as a warning about placing too much trust in a public official when it comes to handling elections. As President Ronald Reagan put it: "Trust, but verify."

We expect this list to grow with time and contributions are welcome.

Questionable (and crooked) Election Officials 1

 

Some Questions For Our Elected Officials by Chuck Herrin

As Bad As The 1904 Election In Colorado? by Ed Quillen

Louisiana Commissioner Of Elections Convicted Of Accepting Kickbacks From Electronic Vote Vendors

Bribery Of A North Carolina Election Director

Pinellas County, Florida, Finds Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark, Worked For Voting Machine Manufacturer by Lisa Greene and Deborah O'Neil

Pinellas County, Florida, Ballot Box Sat Ignored In Office

Human (Or Was It Machine?) Errors Mar September 2002 Florida Primary Results

Doofus Too Dumb To Quit In Arapahoe County, Colorado

Florida Clerk Notes Election Irregularities In Broward County, Florida

Mesa County Colorado List Of Voters Raises Doubts by Nancy Lofholm

Denver Colorado Election Commission Computer Technician Charged With Theft, Forgery, And Embezzlement

Diebold Wines And Dines Election Officials by David Corn

Madame Butterfly Flies Off With Ballots: Florida Fixed Again by Greg Palast

Eroding The Cornerstone Of Democracy

Votes At Risk In Some States by Thomas Hargrove and Michael Collins

Voting Glitches Found In Six Recent Elections In Miami-Dade County, Florida

Standing On Principle Is Not 'Mal-Intent' by Dean Schooler

United Nations Cites Misconduct In Firing Elections Chief by Colum Lynch

Almost Heaven, West Virginia

The Dirty Little Secrets of Voting System Testing Labs by Avi Rubin

U.S. Bars Colorado Lab From Testing Electronic Voting Machines by Christopher Drew

Election Officials in Arizona Refuse to Answer Senate Questions

Key Voting Machine Certification Document Altered In Colorado, Examiner Proven Incompetent, Judge Rules Against Secretary of State

Montrose County, Colorado, County Clerk Violates Election Laws


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