With worn-out clichés about the dead voting, Chicago used to be the poster child for voter fraud. But if any state is a poster child for terrible election practices, it is surely Georgia. Bold claims demand bold evidence, and unfortunately there's plenty; on Monday, McClatchy reported a string of irregularities from the state's primary election in May, including one precinct with a 243-percent turnout.
McClatchy's data comes from a federal lawsuit filed against the state. In addition to the problem in Habersham County's Mud Creek precinct, where it appeared that 276 registered voters managed to cast 670 ballots, the piece describes numerous other issues with both voter registration and electronic voting machines. (In fact it was later corrected to show 3,704 registered voters in the precinct.)
Multiple sworn statements from voters describe how they turned up at their polling stations only to be turned away or directed to other precincts. Even more statements allege incorrect ballots, frozen voting machines, and other issues.
Related Stories
Another item from Def Con 26, which ended the other day, an 11-year-old was easily able to change tallies on real electronic voting equipment within minutes. These machines are designed not to leave any evidence when tampering happens so it was useful that there were many witnesses present for her demo.
Election hackers [sic] have spent years trying to bring attention to flaws in election equipment. But with the world finally watching at DEFCON, the world's largest hacker conference, they have a new struggle: pointing out flaws without causing the public to doubt that their vote will count.
This weekend saw the 26th annual DEFCON gathering. It was the second time the convention had featured a Voting Village, where organizers set up decommissioned election equipment and watch hackers [sic] find creative and alarming ways to break in. Last year, conference attendees found new vulnerabilities for all five voting machines and a single e-poll book of registered voters over the course of the weekend, catching the attention of both senators introducing legislation and the general public. This year's Voting Village was bigger in every way, with equipment ranging from voting machines to tabulators to smart card readers, all currently in use in the US.
In a room set aside for kid hackers [sic], an 11-year-old girl hacked a replica of the Florida secretary of state's website within 10 minutes — and changed the results.
Earlier on SN:
Georgia Defends Voting System Despite 243-Percent Turnout in One Precinct
South Carolina's 13k Electronic Voting Machines Vulnerable, Unreliable
Top Voting Machine Vendor Admits It Installed Remote-Access Software on Systems Sold to States
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @01:57AM (10 children)
Did anyone notice 243 = [3][24] -> March 24th :
https://www.ajc.com/news/local-education/march-for-our-lives-rally-atlanta-students-against-gun-violence-march/AMxWXSK1FQV7JitJXddJMP/ [ajc.com]
Also, 3704 = [463]* [8] = [4 - 2][6 - 2][3 - 0] *[8] -> [243]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:18AM (2 children)
You can "prove" any meaningless nonsense you care to "prove" with numbers. Why don't you just come to the point, and tell us what your favorite conspiracy theory is? The numbers don't mean anything, let alone what you wish they meant.
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @07:22AM
True. Watch this ...
[0] = Runaway's sense of humor
See how easy that was?
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @09:13AM
Fuck your livestock, Runaway, while you are away. And then they will have no interest in your molestation of them. So much for animal husbandry, and Rent-to-own hillbilly idiocy that supports the one person that will fuck you over, multiple times. You are, um, stupid.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:35AM (6 children)
🛆
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:51AM (5 children)
I just see a redacted character
(Score: 3, Funny) by takyon on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:08AM (4 children)
I see 3 sides, you see 4. George W. Bush was the 43rd President of the United States. The only number left from the headline is the 2. Could this be a sign of a 2020 Jeb Bush Presidency?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:31AM
[2 + 1] = 3 -> [c]hemtrails are clearing up thanks to trump
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:59AM (1 child)
We need a cuckoo emoji.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday August 09 2018, @04:08AM
https://emojipedia.org/face-with-stuck-out-tongue-and-winking-eye/ [emojipedia.org]
https://emojipedia.org/grinning-face-with-one-large-and-one-small-eye/ [emojipedia.org]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Aegis on Thursday August 09 2018, @10:57PM
Qtakyon?
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:08AM (4 children)
It got the right answers! By which I mean it got the currently-elected officials elected, so what's the problem?
And as Boss Tweed put it in Gangs of New York: "Remember the first rule of politics. The ballots don't make the results, the counters make the results. The counters. Keep counting."
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:19AM
I can't find the reference quickly, but there was a "journalist" who went digging in the election results in Alachua, Florida and ended up thrown into the mental healthcare system. While it's easy to believe the official (as told by the election winners) side of the story, it is also all too easy to believe what the reporter was alleging in his blog about manufactured ballots and rigged elections.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday August 09 2018, @04:16AM
It's also not suspicious in any way, those Georgia voters were just really, really convinced in what they were voting for. Instead of the 60% vote you get elsewhere, these guys put in a 243% effort.
(Score: 5, Informative) by stretch611 on Thursday August 09 2018, @06:44AM (1 child)
You are exactly right. The current Secretary of State, (which oversees elections), just won the republican primary for governor here in GA. That's right, Trump endorsed Brian Kemp is responsible for overseeing elections, and is now running for governor.
Whats wrong with this picture?!?
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @07:24AM
We're in it?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:15AM (2 children)
https://abc7.com/politics/new-voting-system-approved-by-la-county-board-of-supervisors/ [abc7.com]
https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/06CARACAS2063_a.html [wikileaks.org]
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:56AM (1 child)
Corrected link: https://abc7.com/politics/new-voting-system-approved-by-la-county-board-of-supervisors/3595736/ [abc7.com]
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:50PM
I *think* that's a different kind of corruption. It may include the kind featured in the story of Ga, but I didn't notice any real evidence that this was so. (I've got my suspicions, but that's different from proof.)
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 0, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:25AM (38 children)
Getting things right should not be hard: You must physically show up. You must show your driver's license.
It's the same deal for buying beer. It's the same deal for entering a courthouse. It's the same deal for picking up a prescription. It's the same deal for getting on an airplane.
Poor people? Seriously, if Mexico and India can manage this, the USA sure can.
Fundamentally, the problem is clear. One party is making excuses. They have a motive. They know that voter fraud helps them win. Dead people, foreign nationals, people voting at their vacation house, people voting based on their college and also their parent's home, people voting on behalf of relatives and even ex-spouses...
(Score: 5, Informative) by Thexalon on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:56AM (12 children)
1. Georgia has voter ID requirements.
2. The party that has been in charge of Georgia's government about 15 years is not the party you claim is tolerating fraudulent voting.
3. None of what you describe remotely resembles the problem described in either the summary or TFA. Instead, the problem is probably related to politicians not knowing the difference between actual computer expertise and some partisan hack's kid who totally knows all about computers.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:24AM (11 children)
First of all, Georgia isn't all that republican. They just elected a senator who hates America and freedom.
Second of all, Georgia hasn't had time yet to fully put the Shelby County v. Holder decision to use.
Sadly, even the most conservative places aren't willing to do what it takes to really crack down on fraud. Absentee voting, a huge source of fraud, is too damn popular.
Here, I'll even throw a bone to the leftists who think conservatives are uncultured by lack of travel: let's require a passport. Give several years of notice, ensuring plenty of time to get that taken care of.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by sjames on Thursday August 09 2018, @04:56AM (5 children)
In what bizarro alternate dimension is that statement true?
(Score: 2, Redundant) by HiThere on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:52PM (2 children)
It *isn't* that Republican. They used to regularly elect Dixiecrats. This isn't loyalty to a party we're talking about here.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:38PM (1 child)
What are you talking about? Three times in the last 55 years Georgia went Democrat on the presidential ticket, and two of those times were when Carter was running. Even during the great landslide election for Lyndon Johnson, Georgia went Republican. And keep in mind that those Dixiecrats are the Republican party after the mass exodus following the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 10 2018, @01:09AM
One senator switched parties. One representative switched parties.
Fundamentally, the "party switch" concept is false. It's public relations nonsense. Democrats don't want to admit that they have an uninterrupted history that goes back to when they fought against civil rights.
Tell a lie often enough, and people may believe it. :-(
The real changes have been minor and weird: Democrats now feel entitled to black votes. Democrats offer addiction to welfare and affirmative action, not independence and respect. (It is racist to presume that blacks are incapable.) Democrats still react with outrage when black people don't act as democrats expect. Just a few days ago, a bunch of democrats formed a threatening mob when they found Candice Owens having breakfast with a white person. A few months back, they were telling Kayne West that he really shouldn't speak up about politics, claiming he was out of place. When wealthy democrats hire housekeepers, they choose illegal aliens over blacks who are American citizens.
In other words, the typical democrat doesn't actually respect blacks. The situation is more like... some sort of pet or zoo animal with a defect, or maybe a severely retarded child. There is no respect. Democrats, to the extent that they do any good for blacks at all, are just competing with each other to display virtue.
(Score: 2) by schad on Tuesday August 14 2018, @06:55PM (1 child)
I live in Georgia, and it's true. GA went 51% for Trump, 46% for Clinton. Metro Atlanta is pretty strongly Democratic. It seems probable that GA will flip to the Ds in the next 20 years or so.
Now, with that said, the Republicans in GA are super Republican. This tends to make the state seem more Republican than it actually is, because the craziest possible person tends to get elected by the 51% that will vote for anyone with an (R) after his name.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Tuesday August 14 2018, @11:37PM
However, in the presidential race, Ga. has gone red for the last 6 presidents. The only reason Ga. voted for Carter is that he's a native son.
The Atlanta area is fairly blue but the rest of the state is red, and as you said, the Republicans are VERY Republican.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Thexalon on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:24PM (4 children)
Shelby v Holder was decided in 2013. 5 years should be plenty of time for a state government (controlled entirely by Republicans during that period) to respond in any way they so choose.
You just said that the reason there was so much fraud was that the Democrats were tolerating it in order to win elections. Now all of a sudden it's the Republicans, who have put in place the policy you said would eliminate fraud, who are tolerating the fraud. It's impressive mental gymnastics, which tells me that you aren't being honest about your real position here.
If I had to hazard a guess what your real position is, it probably has something to do with the fact that Shelby legalized state-level voting laws that previous Departments of Justice had declared to be racist in either intent or application. Which suggests that you'd like voting laws that are racist in either intent or application. Which means that when you talk about "fraudulent" votes, what you probably mean is that black people are voting.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:49PM (3 children)
The RNC is legally not able to engage or assist in voter fraud prevention:
https://www.judicialview.com/Court-Cases/Civil-Procedure/Democratic-National-Committee-v-Republican-National-Committee/10/201975 [judicialview.com]
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday August 09 2018, @09:03PM (1 child)
Did you read the case in question? Because if you did, you'd know that what the RNC was doing would have been fine had the RNC been targeted all voters, and the problem was that they were targeting black and Hispanic voters intentionally and exclusively. Had they done the exact same thing statewide or nationwide that they were doing in those cases, there wouldn't have been a problem.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @09:10PM
You "translated" my other post for me totally incorrectly and now in this one you confuse the reason for this legal issue with the consequences of it... are you drunk?
(Score: 2) by sjames on Friday August 10 2018, @12:43AM
That's fairly disingenuous. The actual Republicans who have been in office certainly are. And such a fine job they did!
(Score: 3, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:01AM (7 children)
You know, if you go out and you want to buy groceries, you need a picture on a card. You need ID.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @12:40PM (2 children)
ORLY?
So tell me, what grocery store requires you to show an ID to purchase groceries? I have yet to encounter one.
LOL. Keep sucking that Trump cock. Seems to be the only thing you MAGA morons are good at.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:25PM
"So tell me, what grocery store requires you to show an ID to purchase groceries? I have yet to encounter one."
If I'm not mistaken, places like Sam's club and Costco require you to show a membership card.
"LOL. Keep sucking that Trump cock. Seems to be the only thing you MAGA morons are good at."
On that much we agree.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:29PM
I'm guessing the answer to that question is "Every grocery store Donald Trump has ever shopped at. Which is to say none, because he has never in his entire life done his own grocery shopping." Either that or he always bought booze.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:40PM (3 children)
The fuck? No you don't.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:53PM (2 children)
If you can buy beer or cigarettes without ID, that store is violating the law. You should report them.
In many states, this also applies to numerous over-the-counter drugs. An example is sudafed (spelling?) or pseudophedrin, a cold medicine that can be converted into meth.
If your state has a lottery, you probably need ID for that as well.
(Score: 3, Touché) by tangomargarine on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:18PM
Beer and cigarettes are not groceries.
See above.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:10PM
Sorry, try again. In many states, if you appear to be older than 30 or 35 to a reasonable person, you don't need to be carded.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by sjames on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:06AM
So you figure that's how the GOP won so much in 2017?
As a note, I do not need to show ID when I pick up prescriptions or enter the courthouse, and it's been years since I needed it to buy beer.
(Score: 5, Funny) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:51AM
-rson.
For reasons that I'm sure make sense to them but not to me, the homeless shelter and day center in San Louis Obispo California require government-issued photo ID to avail oneself of their services.
There is a grace period, at the end of which my Arizona friend was kicked out. He figured it would be helpful to get his ID, so he set out from SLO to WALK TO ARIZONA.
I Am Absolutely Serious.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:54AM (2 children)
If the government is going to require an ID to vote, they need to remove the fees required to get an ID. I recall at least one state included this provision as part of their ID requirement.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @07:21AM (1 child)
And they need to stop adding the photos to facial recognition databases, too.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @09:16AM
Goddamn business supporting Republican anti-american conservative assholes, like Sulla. Not that bad as a Roman, betrayal, complicency, and realpolitik, but as an American, especially an Alaskan-socialist American: Sulla, you suck donkey balls.
(Score: 5, Informative) by tangomargarine on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:43PM (9 children)
https://grist.org/politics/john-oliver-explains-how-voter-fraud-is-a-problem-but-only-among-politicians/ [grist.org]
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:09PM (8 children)
This is why no one outside the echo chamber takes this stuff seriously and the DNC is losing all appeal to normal people (ie those not politically rabid in a certain way). Obviously they aren't including the undetected cases of voter fraud in these stats... just stop with the fake shit. Why do they keep self destructing like this?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by tangomargarine on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:20PM (7 children)
So you're denying the video evidence of the lawmakers voting for their colleagues who aren't in the chamber?
The article had more than one point to make.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:27PM (6 children)
No, I'm denying that a reasonable person would think that this the extent of the voter fraud. Its like saying we can reduce voter fraud by removing the cameras in the chamber since unknown fraud doesnt make it into the stats.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:03PM (2 children)
Trump's voter fraud commission disbanded without finding any fraud even though they set out to validate the president's claims [npr.org]. FTFA:
That quote is from someone on the voter fraud commission.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:26PM (1 child)
What is your point?
Even if we could interpret the disbanding of some crappy apparently planned-to-be-rigged investigation as a lack of voter fraud (we cant), the john oliver quote does not mention this argument. I just says :
"See, 31 out of a billion is a small number which proves republicans are retarded or lying just like we thought all along." While republicans may very well be retarded or lying, the person making this argument is definitely retarded or lying.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by sjames on Friday August 10 2018, @12:52AM
The point is even a commission looking for voter fraud and determined to find it even if it's not there couldn't find anything credible enough even for their intended sham.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:43PM (2 children)
Translation: I have no actual evidence to support my claims about voter fraud, but I know they must be true because my favorite news outlets keep saying it's happening. Said news outlet has no evidence to support their claims either, but since I'm inclined to believe them for reasons which have nothing to do with evidence, I believe them.
In short, you've been propagandized successfully into believing claims with no evidence whatsoever. And yes, anyone who thinks the end of the Russia investigation will be Donald Trump led from the White House in handcuffs is just as duped as you are.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:53PM (1 child)
No thats not an accurate translation. The actual meaning is quite clear.
Anyway, like Ive been saying this bs is driving everyone away from the DNC, will be interesting to see what rises in its place.
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Friday August 10 2018, @10:53PM
No, it is quite accurate. You have not provided any substantiation to your claims there is widespread voter fraud, other than apparently you "know" there is.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:14PM
Beer and airplane I will give you, but the courthouse and prescription? Where do you live that you can't just walk into the courthouse like a human being?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by sjames on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:33PM
Welcome to the United States of the GOP. Your papers please!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:40AM (1 child)
it appeared that 276 registered voters managed to cast 670 ballots, the piece describes numerous other issues with both voter registration and electronic voting machines. (In fact it was later corrected to show 3,704 registered voters in the precinct.)
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday August 09 2018, @06:00PM
I agree that the section you highlighted was important...I just can't figure out what it means. Of course, where it said "corrected" I read "changed". Were the new number correct? When did they become correct? Etc.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by stretch611 on Thursday August 09 2018, @07:28AM
Mind you that GA doesn't give a damn to get the numbers right.
A security researcher in GA, found a database containing registration records for the state’s 6.7 million voters; multiple PDFs with instructions and passwords for election workers to sign in to a central server on Election Day; and software files for the state’s ExpressPoll pollbooks — electronic devices used by poll workers to verify that a voter is registered before allowing them to cast a ballot. The files were supposed to be behind a password-protected firewall, but the center had misconfigured its server so they were accessible to anyone. The site was also using a years-old version of Drupal that had a critical software vulnerability long known to security researchers. (and this is just a brief summary) also from Ars [arstechnica.com] Days after the state was sued, the servers were erased and had the hard drives degaussed. Also, Ars [arstechnica.com]
The current Secretary of State, Brian Kemp, who's job is to oversee elections, is now running for governor and refuses to step down as SoS.
Mind you, Brian Kemp, who is running for governor, has had his campaign ads in the national spotlight... one for pointing a shotgun at a young man who wanted to date his daughter [youtube.com] and in another ad, said that he has a big pickup truck “just in case I need to round up criminal illegals and take them home myself.” [youtube.com]
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @07:31AM (1 child)
If this issue happened in Florida then this story about Florida election systems being compromised [reuters.com] might be relevant.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:30PM
Can we all just take a minute to realize that voting machines were a big end-run around democracy? There are so many scattered systems, different protocols, all sorts of shit that makes it hard to properly audit all the various states/districts. Apparently some evoting machines don't even keep proper records now??? This is such an obvious problem, but people tend to reference the various methods they use to prevent vote fraud with the fervor of true believers.
I recall one investigative report that showed even paper ballots weren't secure. For one district a single person drove a van full of "tamper proof" boxes full of votes and the reporter showed that the tamper proof tape could be peeled off and reapplied without problem.
I firmly believe the electoral college is a broken system, see Trump's election where one electoral voter tried to vote their conscience and was prevented from doing so. Wasn't that the WHOLE POINT of the electoral system? Let the politically educated determine the final vote? I don't think it is a good system, but why have it if we won't even let it work as intended? Such a sham.
There are much better systems working right now that we can reference in other countries. No reinventing the wheel needed.