Most people in America believe we live in a Democracy. After 2000 and 2004 I had my doubts about the integrity of our elections... Now, after the Aug 22nd Alaska primary I am positive- our Democracy is a sham.
Alaskans were asked to choose between candidates that they had never heard from- because the Division of Elections DID NOT send out the Official Election Pamphlet. The Deadline was July 22nd, a month before the Primary, I sent in my position statement and $300, and was counting on this booklet to get my name and platform into every town in the state.
But that never happened, the Division of Elections never sent out the booklet! Sure I thought they might stall, but to never even send it out...? I went to vote yesterday thinking that perhaps it was just my neighbors and I that had not received the booklet, but it seems that nobody had. I thought surely they'd have a booklet on hand, so voters could at least read the candidate statements before voting- there was no booklet.
What kind of Division of Elections asks people to vote on candidates they've never heard from. No election booklet combined with the media blackout of my candidacy makes it clear that most Alaskans went to the polls yesterday having no idea of their true choices.
Every newspaper in the state refusing to print my letters to the editor is bad. The public tv station refusing to invite me to the candidate debate is also troublesome. The state & local public radio stations overrun by Bushbots is definitely a deep concern. But the Division of Elections not sending the election booklet is a crime. The fact that there were no booklets available at polling locations further emphasizes that the Alaska Division of Elections did not want the people of our state to know the candidates and what they were voting for.
This is my bio and position statement [1] that should have appeared in every Alaskan's mailbox.
This is a letter to the editor [2], of which different variations were sent to every newspaper in the state.
Is it something I said? Why wouldn't Alaska's newspapers, tv or radio stations even mention my name? Why didn't the Division of Elections print the official election pamphlet?
What kind of government asks their citizens to vote blindly on candidates? Is this the world's greatest democracy? More like the world's greatest scam.
Aside from not giving the voters the information necessary to make a wise choice, the state instructs their poll workers to keep the vote count secret.
People think that to steal an election it would have to be a huge conspiracy, and we "know" that could never happen, therefore, our elections must be fair. After the last election [3], and the Official Booklet no-show, I thought I'd ask to watch the vote count when the polls closed.
It turns out, that the poll workers are instructed to make sure that the total number of ballots equals the number of names crossed off the list- verifying the number of ballots cast- but not the actual vote itself. All they do is press the button and have the machine dial up the central tabulator and send in the data. I mentioned to them that the machine could report 200 total votes, 100 for Murkowski, 100 for Palin, but the paper ballots could be 10 for Murkowski and 190 for Palin... and they'd have no way of knowing if the machine added up the totals correctly.
I argued that it'd only take a few minutes to verify the totals in at least one race. They weren't interested- they told me they just follow instructions honestly, and hope that the people above them are honest as well.
There you go folks - how a fascist government has the votes counted in secret. A huge conspiracy is not necessary, just poll workers that are willing to follow orders. Little old ladies that are incapable of independent thought, but they're good at following orders. They had the machine count the votes, then they boxed up the ballots and sent them to Juneau, never fully knowing if the machine counted correctly, or if a rogue memory card had altered the results.
In Florida 2000 there was Katherine Harris, in Ohio 2004 there was Ken Blackwell... are these the only two corrupt officials working to steal the elections for the criminals currently in power? After yesterday's AK Primary, there is no doubt that Alaska's Division of Elections is just as corrupt. How many other states election systems have also been co-opted...?