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ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINE FRAUD INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING Presidential election fraud 'significant', says UN
October 11, 2009 The United Nations special representative to Afghanistan, Kai Eide, said Sunday that the level of fraud in Afghanistan's presidential election was "significant"."It is true that in a number of polling stations in the south and the southeast there was significant fraud, but not only there," Eide told reporters."The extent of that fraud is now being determined," he said.Eide called a media conference to answer accusations that he tried to conceal information about the extent of the fraud in the elections, which were held on August 20.The elections, the results of which are not yet known, have been overshadowed by allegations of widespread fraud, mostly aimed at President Hamid Karzai.Karzai leads preliminary results with about 55 percent of the vote, against his nearest rival Abdullah Abdullah, who is on 28 percent.Final results are expected to be announced by the end of this week.
Karzai Admits Election Fraud in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday acknowledged irregularities in the Aug. 20 presidential election while arguing it was “good and fair and worthy of praise, not scorn.”Interviewed from Kabul on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Karzai declined to insert himself publicly in the current Obama administration internal debate over possible changes in war policy. But he did say he’s “fully behind” U.S. commanding Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who reportedly has told President Barack Obama that as many as 40,000 additional forces are needed.
“I have seen Gen. McChrystal’s report,” Karzai said. “I am not a military expert. … What I’m concerned about is the protection of the Afghan people.”Questioned repeatedly about allegations of widespread corruption in the Aug. 20 election, Karzai said international criticism of the balloting “makes me angry.” But he conceded “irregularities” at the same time. The international community should not turn the election into “the nightmare of the Afghan people,” Karzai told ABC’s Diane Sawyer.
Preliminary results show that Karzai won with 54.6 percent. A five-member United Nations-backed panel is investigating charges of corruption in the election, and its decision on how many votes to throw out will determine whether Karzai wins outright or if a runoff with top challenger Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister, will be required.New charges have flared this week amid the resignation of a chief fraud investigator. One of the two Afghans on the Electoral Complaints Commission, Maulavi Mustafa Barakzai, resigned Monday because, he said, the three foreigners on the commission were “making all the decisions on their own.”
A deputy campaign manager for Abdullah called the resignation a move by the Karzai campaign to call into question the validity of the fraud investigations.“Barakzai’s resignation has direct connection to Karzai. It was Karzai’s idea,” Saleh Mohammad Registani said. “Karzai is trying to bring the work of the ECC into question.” He said Barakzai was widely considered to be biased toward Karzai.
Representatives for Karzai could not immediately be reached for comment.Of the election in general, Karzai said that some statements criticizing the balloting and vote count were “totally fabricated.”“There were instances of fraud, no doubt. There were irregularities,” he said. “But the election as a whole was good and free and democratic.”
Karzai said Barakzai’s resignation has cast doubt on the functioning of the commission and said officials should “do everything now to remove those suspicions and to remove any of the stigmas and to prove that it is impartial and not dictated from outside from foreign enemies.”
“As you have debates in America, you have problems in America, as you have corruption in America, we have them too in Afghanistan,” he said, “but on a much larger scale because our country is underdeveloped and devastated by years of war.”
Asked if he was suggesting the U.S. election system is insecure, Karzai replied, “No, I’m talking of the existence of issues in governments and the way to handle them.”“Afghanistan has its separate problems and we have to handle them as Afghanistan finds it feasible,” he said. “This country was completely destroyed … Today, we are talking about fighting corruption in Afghanistan, improved legal standards … You see the glass half empty or half full. I see it as half full. Others see it as half empty.”
Poll panel rests it case, 'proves' EVMs tamper-proof
New Delhi: (August 8, 2009) The Election Commission on Saturday reasserted that electronic voting machines (EVMs) were impervious to tampering and said none of the political parties or others who had raised doubts about their reliability could prove they could be fudged.The poll panel had this week called all those who had raised objections about the EVMs for a demonstration that ended on Saturday.
The meeting was called "to set at rest any misgiving" about the use of EVMs in general elections, a statement issued here said."The outcome of this exercise is that none of the persons, who were given the opportunity, could actually demonstrate any tamperability of the ECI-EVM, in any of the hundred machines put on display. They either failed or chose not to demonstrate," it said.Those invited included political parties, petitioners before various courts and some individuals who had been writing to the commission on this issue.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) L K Advani was the first to express doubt about EVMs after the May-April Lok Sabha elections. Taking a cue, other Opposition leaders also voiced their doubts.The poll panel said the demonstration was undertaken to ensure that not "even a small shade of doubt about any aspect of its operation" remained."Today (Saturday), the commission once again completely reaffirms its faith in the infallibility of the EVMs. These are fully tamper-proof, as ever," the statement added.For the demonstration, 100 EVM samples were obtained on random basis from 10 states.
These were kept at the commission's office here for scrutiny and for any application to establish its alleged fallibility. The demonstration was held in the presence of a technical expert group as well as engineers representing the EVM manufacturers."The Election Commission would like to underline that it always had a firm conviction and complete satisfaction that EVMs could not be tampered with.
"Its faith on the machine has never wavered through the conduct of elections in the last many years including the nationwide general elections in 2004 and 2009 and over 30 general elections in state assemblies during the last five years," the statement said.In the past, no one has been able to actually demonstrate that EVMs can be tampered with or manipulated, the commission said."What has been demonstrated or claimed to have been demonstrated is on a privately assembled 'look-alike of ECI-EVMs' and not the actual ECI-EVM," it said.Among those who attended the meet were Kirit Somaiya, vice-president of the BJP in Maharashtra.
"He categorically stated that he was not opposed to the use of EVMs and he had never wanted to do any demonstration about the tamperability of EVMs," the commission said, adding that he had made some suggestions for the panel to consider.The panel said Satinath Chaudhury, a petitioner in the Supreme Court in 2004 on this issue, came to the commission's headquarters on Saturday. But after making some attempts, he failed to demonstrate that the EVM could be tampered with.The panel also said that former bureaucrat Omesh Saigal, who was among those who had raised objections against it, refused to demonstrate the points he had raised.It said others who had petitioned before the various other courts did not turn up. "EVMs have served the country's elections well. These were introduced after long ranging political, technical and administrative consultations since 1979," the statement added.It also said that these EVMs are not comparable with ones used abroad.
Shiv Sena Member of Parliament files PIL in SC for Scrapping 2009 Election
Alleging that electronic voting machines (EVMs) were tampered with, a senior Member of Parliament from Shiv Sena moved the Supreme Court for setting aside the just concluded 15th Lok Sabha elections. In a PIL filed through counsel Nawal K Jha, the five-time Shiv Sena MP Mohan Rawle, who himself lost the polls to Congress candidate Milind Deora from Mumbai south, claimed that the election process in the entire country was vitiated and pleaded that the ballot box system be restored. "It is also prayed that the 15th General Elections of Lok Sabha, specifically the election of south Mumbai Parliamentary constituency, may be set aside as the same have been held through defective, incredible, untrustworthy and unreliable electronic voting machines," the petition stated. Supporting his claim, Rawle cited statements from various political parties like BJP, CPM, TDP, Samajwadi Party, RJD and LJP who expressed their view for reviving the ballot box systems as the EVMs were vulnerable to "tampering." Quoting extensively various research papers and media reports from across the world, the former MP submitted that even in advanced countries like the US, authorites there have discarded EVMs as they were vulnerable for tampering and reverted to the traditional ballot box system, the Indian Express Reported.
Hindustan Times Report on SC PIL on EVMs
Petition in Supreme Court about Electronic Voting Machines
A new petition was filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to ascertain whether the machines were tamper-proof. Voicing fears about tampering of electronic voting machines, two officials from Hyderabad-based Election Watch Group along with two engineers filed a PIL, seeking formation of an expert group to examine the EVM functioning. Election Watch official V V Rao and engineers A Kankipati and Y Vasaya stated in their petition that it was possible to meddle with the EVM software and, in the process, rig the election process (July 11, 2009--source: Indian Express) More Public Outcry about Massive Vote Fraud in India
Philippines Election Commission: Guard your Digital Votes
MANILA, Philippines -- The Commission on Elections' (Comelec) voter education campaign will center on how the electorate can guard their ballots, especially with the automated system in place, Inquirer, an investigative newspaper said quoting a spokesman for the poll body."Voters should make sure that they get only blank, unshaded ballots, because with automated counting, this will the only opportunity for fraud," Inquirer said quoting Comelec spokesman James Jimenez Read More
Reasons why the Mainstream US/International media is not covering the greatest story of the Century, the wholesale hijacking of Elections... Interview with independent online journalist who has exposed the vote through the Internet... Read More
