Dear Readers, what I am about to tell you may shock you. You won't believe it, because surely, nothing so absurd could happen in America. Unfortunately, it is all too true, it's in the public record, the state is not denying it, just merely refusing to allow for a public inspection of the records.
The issue in question is the 2004 election, the following is from an email from Rich McClear [1] of KUDO 1080 [2], Anchorage:
The State of Alaska website shows 16 of 40 house districts with more than 200% voter turnout, Also, if you add up the vote totals from each district they come to more than 100,000 votes for state wide candidates than the summary reports show.
More than 7 months ago the Democrats asked for an explanation. The state said it could not release the data files because they were proprietary to Diebold.
Diebold gave the state permission to release the files.
The state still refused. The Democrats went to court, the state asked for extension after extension. Their final extension expired Thursday and they replied to the Court, in a 200 page document, that since it is a month from the primary election, they can't release the database without compromising the primary. There is not enough time to rebuild the central tabulator file if they release the data before the election.
The Democrats have to respond to the court Monday. To respond to a 200 page document would usually require the Democrats to ask for an extension but they are working throughout the weekend to get the filing in Monday. Right now I have the Democratic Spokesperson scheduled for my show Monday Morning.
The State stalled for 7 months and when they ran out the legal clock they claim it is too late to release the information because it is too close to the primary. I find it interesting that this has not been picked up by the local press yet, save KUDO.
The fundamental question: Can We the People trust the State of Alaska and Diebold to run a fair election? Consider the above statement, the obvious answer is clearly- No! We the People need to demand an auditable trail.
The Answer
Bev Harris was right when she said all that's needed is a transparent, auditable trail, open to public scrutiny. If there is nothing to hide, then why would any of our State Representatives object to creating such an auditable trail?
I hereby call on all of Alaska's State Legislators to enact the following provisions into a bill ASAP.
1. Precincts will print and post the vote totals at the voting location.
1a Poll Workers will take a copy of the results home.2. Counties will post the precinct totals from every precinct in the County.
3. The State will post the County totals online, and in several locations throughout Alaska
4. The results will remain posted for two weeks after the election.
Posting the results at each precinct is undeniably simple. The purpose is to provide a transparent, auditable trail to ensure an honest election in Alaska. There is no reason not to do this, unless you have something to hide.
So how about it Alaska State Representatives- will you sponsor a bill creating a transparent, auditable trail? If not, why- I'm anxiously awaiting your response.