Today's New York Times had two good pieces that both closed with questionable summary sentences, each of which brough me to writing letters to the editors. In both cases the authors are pointing out difficulties with the electoral process and omitting the role of the Republican party machine in creating and maintaining the problems.
My letters after the break.
This letter was sent to letters@nytimes.com :
Your October 4th article on voter registration drives included this sentence: "Unfamiliarity with voting procedures, confusing ballots and faulty technology were largely to blame for Florida's election fiasco in 2000."
What you fail to point out is that each of those three problems was actively encouraged if not entirely fabricated by Florida's Republican state leadership. These are not simply the problems of an overwhelmed system, they are the problems of a system being actively manipulated to political ends by a heavily interested party. Furthermore, the same Republican leaders still control the elections in the state of Florida, and after their rousing success at manipulating the outcome in 2000 they have no disincentive to do so again. Articles like yours provide them with cover that none of us can afford.
This one to editorials@nytimes.com :
In an October 4th editorial on Diebold's legal troubles you closed with this sentencce: "Diebold has a great deal to do to make its work transparent and its company trustworthy if it wants to remain in the elections business."
The problem you fail to acknowledge is that for all of Diebold's demonstrably nefarious business practices and dangerously insecure products they are still a leading vendor of elections machines and have suffered very little in this regards. With Republican state leadership embracing this extremely partisan company and its highly manipulable product, all accountability has been stripped from the system leaving the market unable to punish this seriously flawed organization. How many times will it need to be demonstrated that their product is unsafe? How many times will they need to be convicted of fraudulent practices? When do their crimes reach a point that the sanctity of our elections don't rely on simplly trusting them? That time will never come while they are being coddled by a political machine that does not recognize the importance of the public will. The problems aren't just in the voting boxes but also in the power structure promoting their use. The buck doesn't stop at Diebold; it rises higher.