Videos and reports have gone viral in the past week showing that people voting for a specific candidate on early voting machines in Illinois - and elsewhere - are finding their votes show up for 'another' candidate. Specifically, people have observed their votes for Republican candidates going to the Democratic candidates they are not voting for. Yet, there are reports from media outlets - such as the Huffington Post's report on Friday - screaming headlines that the voting machines aren't 'fixed.' 'Fixed,' of course, does not mean 'repaired' in this instance - it means fraudulently adjusted. The reason for stating that the machines are not 'fixed,' according to the article, is because 'officials' say so. However, 'because 'officials' says so' is not very comforting to some registered voter - especially in Illinois.
Naturally, with voting machine concerns coming out of Illinois, for the most part, there should be great concern. Concerns that even a major media outlet's headline should not be able to squelch. Illinois has an extremely poor reputation for being corrupt due to its political history. Besides two of its most recent governors landing themselves in prison for corruption, WGN News reported last July that Illinois easily shows up as one of the ten most corrupt states in the nation according to researchers. Therefore, the notion that 'because officials say' should not be the end-all of an investigation into alleged voter fraud anywhere, let alone Illinois.
Additionally, it is noted that the stories and videos that have been brought up in the past week since early voting has begun last Monday in Illinois have been cases when persons clearly vote for a Republican candidate and the machine insists the voter wants to cast his or her vote for a Democrat. Illinois is a Democratic state where Republicans are trying to 'shake up Springfield' in a close race between Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn and Republican challenger Bruce Rauner. The race is not only extremely important to Illinoisans but extremely tight just days before the election, says the Chicago Tribune.
Therefore, 'fixed' machines to vote for the 'other' candidate, or 'broken' machines - if one chooses to give the faulty voting machines the benefit of the doubt - cannot be part of the equation. Of concern is not any person who has spoken up and said their votes are not being registered correctly because they eventually get their vote cast corrected. What is of major concern, obviously, is the number of times that voting machines cast an incorrect vote because there are logically people who would not have noticed that their vote had been incorrectly cast.
There is no way of knowing how many times the machine registered the wrong vote before someone finally saw the problem and spoke up so that some 'official' could look into the matter. Every vote must be registered correctly - or, dare one say, honestly. There are many who are not taking comfort in the media stories claiming 'officials' say machines have not been 'fixed.' Machines have made errors. It has been proven. The bottom line is that there is an extremely strong possibility that votes have been mis-registered to favor Democratic candidates in a corrupt state that is currently controlled by Democrats. It should not be a story that's swept under the rug - because 'officials' say the calibration error has been corrected.
Of several concerns in the state, there has been alleged voter fraud in Rock Island County. A video clearly shows someone attempting to vote for a Republican candidate and the 'X' in front of the Democratic candidate pops up - over and over again - according to Western Journalism. More than one voter caught their vote popping up on the screen for the wrong candidate. Other reports around the state about votes not coming up on the screen correctly - in favor of the Democrats - is an Illinois Republican state representative candidate. The Washington Times reported, state politician Jim Moynihan trekked to a polling place and tried to vote for himself in Schaumburg last week but the stubborn machine wanted to cast his vote for his opponent. A similar story came out of Cook County. Similar problems have been unearthed in other states as well, including Maryland.
Red Line Project reported that Illinois' voter turnout hit a new record-low of only 19 percent of eligible voters getting involved with the election last March. Obviously, allegations of 'fixed' or 'broken' machines that have calibration issues to be addressed do not encourage people to make their way to the voting facilities. It's just days before the election concludes, and the stories aren't going away - as much as headlines insist 'officials' say all is well. At this point, apparently all that voters can do is be aware of what is showing up on their screens when they vote. Basically, stop and look both ways before hitting that confirmation button on the voting machine. One should make sure the candidates of his or her choice are the ones actually getting the votes. If there is a problem, contact one of those 'officials' - and contact a media source, too, so the story gets out to the public.
Posted by Unknown on Saturday, November 1, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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