At the polling place I was the only voter but there were a dozen or so poll workers.  After voting (on one of those damned Diebold machines) I asked if Id get a receipt.  In lieu of one I was given a cute little sticker with a graphic of a Georgia Peach with Im a Georgia Voter printed on it.  I laughed and said that makes me feel better...there were some chuckles.  

I said I wanted a receipt for my vote.  This is what they gave me.

So I asked, "How do we know that our votes are being accurately counted?"  There were some uncomfortable looks but no one said anything.  I said, "After the last two presidential elections ya have to wonder."  To my surprise there were quite a few murmurs of agreement.

Someone said, "Yeah, you do have to wonder."  This occurred deep in Newt Gingrich country where I am a rare democrat.  Im still a little amazed.

Maybe reality is starting to sink in.

Will the Republicans try to steal the upcoming presidential election?

You bet your ass they will.

There is one thing we should know with complete certainty - the Republicans will definitely try to steal this election.  Its how they play the game, its what theyre good at, theyve gotten away with it twice - they dont know any better.  The only real questions are: have we found the courage to stand up to them, and can we stop them?

We have not shown that we are capable of standing up to them.  Just look at Pelosi and Reid, and all the other paper tigers we have up on Capital hill just capitulating their little asses off.   Doesnt exactly inspire one with confidence.

Furthermore, we have not done our due diligence in assuring the integrity of our electoral system and the mechanisms the Republicans used to steal 2000 and 2004 remain firmly in place in many parts of the country.

Will GOP Election Theft Machine Do It Again in 2008?

With record low approval ratings for the Bush/Cheney regime and the albatross of an unpopular war hanging from the GOPs neck, do you think that a Democratic presidential candidate will win the White House, get us out of Iraq, and end our long national nightmare?

Think again - the mighty election theft machine Karl Rove used to steal the US presidency in 2000 and 2004 may be under attack, but it is still in place for the upcoming 2008 election.

Truthout.org

Please take a moment to watch this critically important video if you havent already seen it:

Princeton University Exposes Diebold Flaws

More information can be found at the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University.

From their AccuVote-TS Report FAQ:

Why did you publish all of this information about security attacks? Arent you just teaching the bad guys how to cheat?

We could not in good conscience withhold this information from citizens and public officials. People need to know that there is a serious problem. Details help people understand the problem and evaluate the credibility of our conclusions. They also help our colleagues in the research community understand the implications of voting machine design and evaluate new ideas.

The vendors have been claiming their systems are secure, and elections are now depending on these claims. Our report points out that the vendors have significant problems and helps create momentum toward solving those problems. Citizens paid for these systems and deserve to know what they got for their money.

Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University

People need to know that there is a serious problem.  Indeed.

Proof of voter fraud in the USA - from the horses mouth

"Exit polls should not be significantly different from the vote," says Clinton Curtis, expert voting machine programmer, in the above video.

That raises red flags about the 2004 Presidential election.

To this serious problem of actual vote theft, add all their other favorite means of gaming the system and scamming the people and it spells big trouble:

Vote Caging

Robo-Calling

Voter Disinformation Campaigns

Purges of Voter Rolls

Restrictive Voter ID Laws

Gerrymandering

Swiftboating

* this is but a partial list

You have to hand it the Republicans though.  Theyre clever...in an evil-genius sort of way.  They have even turned the voter fraud thing on us.  (They love to accuse others of that which they are themselves so blatantly guilty - its semi-brilliant political misdirection and classic Rovian strategery.)

Karl Roves big election-fraud hoax

Republican manipulation of the polls long predates the U.S. attorneys plot -- and the U.S. voting system needs an overhaul.

(snip)

At least part of the U.S. attorneys plot seems to derive from the "election fraud" hoax that Republicans are trying to perpetrate in order to gain control of the countrys voter lists. So nailing this inept crew of thugs wont be good enough. We need laws protecting the right to vote from the kind of phony, partisan prosecutors that Gonzales, Rove and Co. were trying to put in place, and from the punitive, restrictive voter-ID laws that are a prominent part of the far-right political agenda.

Salon.com

When I first started writing about Republican election theft at dailykos over two years ago, I was met with a fierce wall of resistance from those kossacks who felt I was undermining confidence in our electoral system.  But I wasnt trying to undermine anyones confidence so much as I was asking is it wise to be confident in a system so deeply flawed and so obviously compromised?  I guess its all a matter of perspective.

I hope weve all learned by now.

Please hear this...

Watch for the steal.

Some essential links:

Verified Voting Foundation

People For The American Way

Project Vote Smart

Further Reading:

Election Fraud and Tyranny: Part 1

The Strange Death of American Democracy:  Endgame in Ohio

Rove Threatened GOP IT Guru If He Does Not Take the Fall for Election Fraud in Ohio, Says Attorney

HACKED! High Tech Election Theft in America

Was the 2004 Election Stolen?