I am sure there are many blog readers who have grown sick and tired of conspiracy theories about the 2004 election results. Well, too bad. Some of us are not just jumping on the bandwagon now. Many of us have been screaming from the rooftops since 2003 about the risk of compromising democracy via electronic voting machines. Now, we are finding that are fears were warranted:
"The three counties where the voting anomalies were most prevalent were also the most heavily Democratic: Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade, respectively. Statistical patterns in counties that did not have e-touch voting machines predicted a 28,000 vote decrease in President Bush’s support in Broward County, yet machines tallied an increase of 51,000 votes – a net gain of 81,000."President Bush should have lost 8,900 votes in Palm Beach County, but instead gained 41,000 - a difference of 49,900. He should have gained only 18,400 votes in Miami-Dade County but saw a gain of 37,000 – a difference of 19,300 votes.
“'No matter how many factors and variables we took into consideration, the significant correlation in the votes for President Bush and electronic voting cannot be explained,' Hout added. 'The study shows that a county’s use of electronic voting resulted in a disproportionate increase in votes for President Bush.'"
"The odds of this occurring by chance?
“'Less than once in a thousand,' he said."