For centuries, elections in the United States have been decided by ballotstuffing and racial exclusion. The documentary Stealing America by Vote, directed by Dorothy Fadiman, updates the failure to respect the right to vote by focusing on voting fraud from 1986-2006 using more sophisticated means. The sometimes disjointed presentation, which creates the impression that libelous and hyperpartisan content was cut from the final version of the film, consists of interviews with several persons as well as television news broadcasts. Among the anomalies identified in the film are the following: (1) Exit polls have failed to mirror final results only where Democrats lost unexpectedly. (2) Republican election officials have failed to respond to complaints about ongoing fraudulent practices. (3) White suburban voters average a few minutes to vote, whereas Black city voters wait hours before voting. (4) There is little accommodation for handicapped voters in cities. (5) Machines were programmed to switch votes for Kerry into votes for Bush. (6) Black voters have been mysteriously purged from lists of eligible voters. (7) Kerry conceded the 2004 election before the final vote tally was posted. (8) The Supreme Court stopped Florida from recounting votes in heavily Democratic counties in 2000. (9) Counting of votes was conducted in secret by Republican voting officials in one Ohio country during 2004. (10) The major networks and newspapers have downplayed election irregularities, which exist nationwide. Although the documentary fails to explain all the anomalies, one emphasis is on problems with voting machines: (1) Diebold refused to allow inspection of its voting machine software, and its CEO was openly committed to supporting Republicans. (2) Some machines malfunction upon arrival at polling places, and personnel to handle the problem are not available. (3) Voting machine software can easily be modified undetected before arrival or on the spot. The main policy recommendation of Stealing America by Vote is that the country should return to paper ballots, though the evidence in the film clearly indicates that paper ballots cannot prevent future elections from being stolen by many other means. Hello, President McCain? MH
I
want to comment on this film
