How to Cheat the Vote

Denny K. raised the topic of vote counting fraud in the Democrat primary in New Hampshire. All the accusations that have been flying from the left side of the political spectrum concern Diebold machines and the vendor that services them. But that is far from the only way, or even the easiest way, to cheat a vote.

What are some of the ways we bloggers can imagine to cheat the vote? If we can figger out how to cheat the vote, we can figger out how to stop cheating too.

So.... without further ado, here are some ways to cheat the vote.

1. Manipulate the vote counting process
   
   1. electronically, by introducing non-random errors in counts.
      
   2. manual counters modifying paper ballots (or poking at chads to see if they are loose, thereby loosening them).
      
   3. intentional errors in sums.
      
   
   
2. Add, remove, or change vote records
   
   1. after voting has completed but before the counting is done, for instance by dumping extra ballots into the hopper and modifying the voter sign-in logs.
      
   2. find uncounted ballots after the counting has completed and challenge the count in the courts.
      
   3. challenge the vote in the courts, ask for recounts in areas where errors are likely to go against you and ask to exclude recounts in areas where errors are likely to go against opponents. Demand that recount be conducted in private and have the re-counters alter the ballots out of public scrutiny.
   4. shred ballots for your opponent and challenge the vote in the courts.
      
   
   
3. Fool voters into voting for something other than their intentions.
   
   1. through electronic trickery.
      
   2. through tricky ballot design
      
   3. through tricky wording on ballot measures (double and triple negatives, etc).
      
   
   
4. Allow people who are not allowed to vote to vote anyway.
   
   1. don't perform any prudent voter identity verification, for instance by checking a photo ID.
      
   2. don't purge the voter rolls of dead people, convicted felons, and those who move and register somewhere else.
      
   3. don't perform a reliable check of citizenship or residency at registration.
      
   4. don't perform any kind of duplicate records check during the count to prevent cheaters from casting multiple votes.
      
   
   
5. Have law enforcement treat vote fraud as a minor matter. It is awfully hard to catch, and those who are caught must be made into examples. Intentional vote fraud should be a felony that prevents people from voting or holding public office.
   

When the government fails to prevent vote fraud they cheat every voter out of their vote. Your vote doesn't count when a fraudulent vote opposes you. You are being robbed. Get upset!

It is high time that common sense standards be implemented nationwide to guarantee the accuracy of the vote. It is technologically feasible now, using the same techniques that banks use to protect transactions and public companies use to prevent Sarbanes-Oxley violations.



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