Saturday, April 03, 2004
FL Debates Ban on e-Vote Recounts
Should manual recounts be allowed if the votes were cast on touch-screen machines?
Miami Herald Article (in GuvWurld news archive, contains link to original)
By choosing to debate this question, the certainty of uncertainty is strengthened. This joins the long list of reasons to expect a lack of consensus to follow the next election. This is worse than willingly walking into a mine field. This is being "brave" enough to play Russian Roulette with a bullet in every chamber.
American democracy empowers leaders through the consent of the governed. Who is willing to consent to elections where the preparation consists of making sure the will of the people will be reasonably called into question? We can see the setup from a mile away - the so-called opponents are "debating" the rules of their contest. This is simulated competition, in the grand tradition of professional wrestling and the Harlem Globetrotters.
It is an insufficient response merely to refuse to participate in the charade - I do not advocate boycotting elections when they are held. We need the determined resolve to stop the charade itself. Politicians on the local level must be encouraged to pass resolutions (ala the 270 anti-Patriot act resolutions) that voice a "Vote of No Confidence." The first one may be mocked or ridiculed, but by the 50th or 100th No Confidence resolution, the crux of the debate will then have become the line in the sand at which this administration loses its legitimacy (such as it never was).
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Miami Herald Article (in GuvWurld news archive, contains link to original)
By choosing to debate this question, the certainty of uncertainty is strengthened. This joins the long list of reasons to expect a lack of consensus to follow the next election. This is worse than willingly walking into a mine field. This is being "brave" enough to play Russian Roulette with a bullet in every chamber.
American democracy empowers leaders through the consent of the governed. Who is willing to consent to elections where the preparation consists of making sure the will of the people will be reasonably called into question? We can see the setup from a mile away - the so-called opponents are "debating" the rules of their contest. This is simulated competition, in the grand tradition of professional wrestling and the Harlem Globetrotters.
It is an insufficient response merely to refuse to participate in the charade - I do not advocate boycotting elections when they are held. We need the determined resolve to stop the charade itself. Politicians on the local level must be encouraged to pass resolutions (ala the 270 anti-Patriot act resolutions) that voice a "Vote of No Confidence." The first one may be mocked or ridiculed, but by the 50th or 100th No Confidence resolution, the crux of the debate will then have become the line in the sand at which this administration loses its legitimacy (such as it never was).
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