Thursday, November 04, 2004
No Legitimacy without Transparency
The democratic process rests upon the transparency of the system. Citizens must be able to verify for themselves that the system is fair, equitable and open to all. When power colludes to cover up (or encourage) systemic failures that erode those principles, illegitimacy rules and democracy dies.
All
those (mainly Republican) secretaries of state around the country
who see no problem with unverifiable (i.e. no paper trail) electronic
voting machines and inadequate facilities in low-income and minority
communities are simply denying their party legitimacy when the “votes”
are tallied. There simply can be no legitimacy without transparency.
In an age of close elections, anything less is simply unacceptable.
Links on the controversial vote:
- "Kerry Won," by Greg Palast (4 Nov 2004, TomPaine.com)
- "Global monitors find faults," by Thomas Crampton (3 Nov 2004, International Herald Tribune)
- Was the Ohio Election Honest and Fair? (3 Nov 2004, Institute for Public Accuracy)
- "Voters Report Problems with Computer Systems," by Andy Sullivan (3 Nov 2004, Reuters)
- Democracy Spoiled (The Civil Rights Project, Harvard Univ)
- E-Voting Guide (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
- "An Election Spoiled Rotten," by Greg Palast (1 Nov 2004, TomPaine.com)
"The
global implications of the