Was the 2004 Election Stolen?: A Debate on Ohio One Year After Bush's Victory

There were widespread reports of voter intimidation; suspiciously long lines in heavily Democratic areas; faulty voting machines; mishandled absentee and provisional ballots; election results that contradicted exit polls…and then there were the electronic voting machines. For years critics of these machines have warned that they could be manipulated in ways to fix elections.

Last week the Government Accountability Office – the investigative unit of Congress – issued a major report on the safety of electronic voting machines. Although the report has received little attention in the corporate media, its findings have startled critics of electronic voting. There are three main problems the GAO found with the machines: First, some electronic voting systems did not encrypt cast ballots or system audit logs, and it was possible to alter both without being detected. Second, it was possible to alter the files that define how a ballot looks and works so that votes for one candidate could be recorded for a different candidate. Third, vendors installed uncertified versions of voting system software at the local level.

The GAO concluded, “some of these concerns were reported to have caused local problems in federal elections – resulting in the loss or miscount of votes.”

* Mark Crispin Miller, author of “Fooled Again: How the Right Stole the 2004 Election and Why They’ll Steal the Next One Too (Unless We Stop Them).” He is a professor at New York University and author of several other books including "Cruel and Unusual: Bush/Cheney’s New World Order" and "The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder."
* Mark Hertsgaard, investigative reporter who recently examined the 2004 election for Mother Jones magazine. He is the author of many books including "The Eagle’s Shadow: Why America Fascinates and Infuriates the World" and "Earth Odyssey: Around the World in Search of Our Environmental Future." He is also the environment correspondent for The Nation and the political correspondent for LinkTV.

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