However, in America, 2006, it does not matter if a politician is supported by her constituency because elections are little more than smoke and mirrors, a crumbling facade slapped over the ugly face of dictatorship. Democratic Underground posted the following press release this afternoon:

FOR IMMEDITATE RELEASE Contact: Jocco Baccus
July 18, 2006
678-520-2088

DIEBOLD ELECTRONIC MACHINES MALFUNCTION, VOTE FOR OTHER CANDIDATE

(Decatur) After one hour of voting, the McKinney campaign has received numerous calls that the voting machines are malfunctioning. Voters casting votes for McKinney are reportedly having their votes switched by the machines for Hank Johnson. This is not a new problem with Diebold machines. Lawyers for the campaign have been alerted and said that If this situation is not corrected, Cynthia McKinney for Congress will be forced to take additional measures.

“A McKinney representative confirmed for me that these reports have been coming in all morning,” adds the blogger Joseph Cannon. “By every account, votes for Congresswoman McKinney have ‘morphed’ into votes for Johnson. So far, nobody has heard one anecdotal report of an intended vote for Johnson turning into a vote for McKinney.”

Anecdotal or not, this is how elections work in America now—same as they work in any other dictatorship.

Although the oft-cited Uncle Joe Stalin quote—”It’s not the people who vote that count, it’s the people who count the votes”—is assumed to be an urban legend, it is applicable to America, circa 2006. Our ruling elite attempted to take down Cynthia McKinney for “assaulting” a Capital Hill cop, but that didn’t work out as planned, so now they will steal the election from her.

Question: will Cynthia McKinney’s supporters take to the streets and wage a civil disobedience campaign like the people of Mexico after the elite diebolded their election, or will they slump off and lick their wounds?

Follow up question: here in America, does the neocon Gestapo need kick in the door before people resist this sort of transparent fascism?

Don’t answer. I have a pretty good idea.

_____________________

From The Brad Blog

GA Dem Primary: Votes Intended for Cynthia McKinney are being Flipped to Hank Johnson!!

The Diebold Machines Are In Action Again — Against A Congresswoman Who Asks Tough Questions!

stay tuned — this could get VERY interesting

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

According to a message posted at Democratic Underground, Georgia voters attempting to vote for Rep. Cynthia McKinney in today's Democratic Primary are seeing their votes flipped to her opponent, Hank Johnson.

McKinney has a well-deserved reputation for speaking truth to power, asking tough questions, and not backing down (see this video, or read this transcript).

Diebold has a history of touch-screen machines flipping votes from one candidate to another. This is commonly called "vote-switching" or "vote-flipping".

Georgia has a history of very strange results in mid-term elections.

We'll have more about all this and perhaps some updates, as time permits.

Hat tips to Joseph Cannon at Cannonfire as well as BradBloggers Jason, Laura and Chris.

More soon … but in the meantime:

Will somebody please call the cops?

UPDATE #1: Here's another brief report from Cynthia McKinney's website:

Just after the polls opened, numerous problems with Diebold electronic voting machines were noted. At one Rockdale precinct, reportedly a single Diebold machine malfunction affected the performance of the entire sequence of machines assigned to that precinct. Additionally, one machine didn't have a plug and sat idle. In addition, workers were not adequately trained on the use of the electronic pollbooks, resulting in unneccessary voter frustration.

When one McKinney voter realized too late that her intended vote had been switched by the voting machine to a McKinney opponent, the polling place official's response was "she needs to let us know next time before she casts her ballot." McKinney campaign officials want to know, what about this time?

Not a half-bad question, I would say.

UPDATE #2. From Cynthia McKinney's blog:

One couple went to vote together, as they always do. When they arrived at the polling place, the Diebold electronic pollbook was in use by officials. The wife's name was in the electronic pollbook's database and she was allowed to vote. The polling officials told the husband that he had already voted. The husband, irate at hearing this news, and being told that he could not vote, contacted McKinney headquarters and Team McKinney lawyers have been dispatched to the precinct.

A snake in the bush is easy to fight. But one already in the house becomes a problem!

__________________________

Read from Looking Glass News

The Washington snake pit and Cynthia McKinney

McKinney versus a Capitol Hill "Southern Sheriff"

A DIEBOLD INSIDER SPEAKS! DIEB-THROAT : 'Diebold System One of Greatest Threats Democracy Has Ever Known'

Diebold in Florida:The Harri Hursti Hack and its Importance to our Nation

Multiple vulnerabilities in Diebold Optical Scan

Why do Diebold's Touch-Screen Voting Machines Have Built-In Wireless Infrared Data Transfer Ports?

All "VOTING INTEGRITY" News Articles