There are tantalizing elements pointing to conspiracies to manipulate our last remaining democratic input into our government.  Certainly, even if there is none; the motivation would have to be there.  The profits from being able to pick your candidate (most likely most effective when used to tilt the scales in close races), would undoubtedly be worth many Billions of dollars to industry and be the holy grail for those who seek power in it's own right.  Everything from discrepancies between exit polls and final results, to the excessive secrecy of many players, to the reported incidents of inexplicably high vote counts, all the way to the strange purchases of voting machines which, by having no paper trail, ensure than no matter what happens, it's hard to prove fraud and the actual votes cannot ever be discovered!

To that end; we actually did have an excellent option for an electronic voting system.  Called "the perfect solution", TruVote was the right answer.  Through what might be called 'incestuous relationships', however, so many millions of dollars for voting reform have been spent on voting devices by Diebold and other's known to have party affiliations.  Then, as a result of an 'accident' at just the moment in history in which the man with the answer, who struggled so hard on behalf of the American people, should have been hugely successful, our chances of getting a truly fair, secure and proper solution to our voting needs has been delivered a serious setback.

We need to find a way to support the acceptance of the best available solution; rather than suspiciously re-engineered fixes to already dubious equipment!  Tell everyone, we already have the answer: TruVote.

"The perfect solution "

"Ohio Senator Fedor continues to fight valiantly for Senate Bill 167 and the Holy Grail of the “voter verified paper audit trail.” Proponents of a paper trail were emboldened when Athan Gibbs, President and CEO of TruVote International, demonstrated a voting machine at a vendor’s fair in Columbus that provides two separate voting receipts. "

"The first paper receipt displays the voter’s touch screen selection under plexiglass that falls into a lockbox after the voter approves. Also, the TruVote system provides the voter with a receipt that includes a unique voter ID and pin number which can be used to call in to a voter audit internet connection to make sure the vote cast was actually counted."

"Brooks Thomas, Coordinator of Elections in Tennessee, stated, “I’ve not seen anything that compares to the Gibbs’ TruVote validation system. . . .” The Assistant Secretary of State of Georgia, Terrel L. Slayton, Jr., claimed Gibbs had come up with the “perfect solution.” "

"Still, there remains opposition from Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell. His spokesperson Carlo LoParo recently pointed out that federal mandates under HAVA do not require a paper trail: “. . . if Congress changes the federal law to require it [a paper trail], we’ll certainly make that a requirement of our efforts.” LoParo went on to accuse advocates of a paper trail of attempting to “derail” voting reform. "...

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0225-05.htm

Yes, the TruVote machine was the best answer to providing an electronic voting system... But then...