There are stories that are circulating in the American media about how the problems with Election Day 2004 have already begun, even though we are still a couple of weeks away from Election Day. All sorts of legal challenges are being filed in courts across America about the way that the votes will be cast and tabulated this time. Many people are saying that they have serious doubt that the method being used in their state is going to be accurate enough to ensure correct results and are challenging it in court. They seem to want a different method used in their area, but the problem is that there are challenges being thrown up against every type of voting system that is used in America. There are plenty of challenges being waged against the new electronic ways of voting that are coming into use in America, people are saying that these methods are very easy to tamper with and change after the fact, and that they do not accurately record votes either. The argument here is that using the Internet to tabulate votes is a foolish thing, because there are so many hackers and fuckheads roaming the Internet that they could be able to disrupt the voting and fuck it up with their meddling and that America has always taken extraordinary steps to prevent exactly that sort of thing, and that they cannot safely protect against it with these methods being used. The people that are against this think that the old punch card method should be employed, however, there are many legal challenges going on against that method in many states as well. People are pointing to what happened in Florida in 2000, with the hanging chads and dimpled chads and so on and say that this punch card method is not good either. So they also want an alternate method used. About the only one left is the old voting machines way, where you go into a booth and pull levers to cast your vote, but most states have done away with that system long ago, because it is cumbersome, those voting machines are such huge things that have to be wheeled in and out of the polling places by a crew, where the punchcard's booths just fold up into a little briefcase type thing and can be carried in and out by one person, and that has saved election boards a lot of money over the years, so they are not about to go back to the old ways, not when they have these punchcards and electronic things that are lightweight and very portable. However, doomsayers are saying that this is sure to lead to disaster, so they are getting a headstart on it all by filing lawsuits now before the election actually happens because they want to be ready when disaster strikes this time around. How many of these cases will be thrown out of court between now and election day is uncertain, so that means that there will be many lawsuits and legal challenges going on against the voting on Election Day in two weeks. Many are saying that this could make the bullshit that came out of Florida look like a sandbox disagreement as the problems from 2000 could be multiplied many times over this time, meaning that this election is almost sure to end up back in the courts again.
Since this all is being played out at a very high profile in the media, it is telling a lot of Americans something. Countless people were dismayed and infuriated four years ago when that fiasco happened, because it looked to them like their votes did not count for shit, what they said was ignored, exactly the opposite of what Americans are taught about the whole electoral process, that it is the voice of the people that makes the decision. To many, it looked like their voice was not heard in 2000, and that has made them think about the validity of the whole thing ever since. Americans are told to get out and vote, that it is their duty as citizens to do that, and they did, and their votes were ignored in favor of some shady fuckers called the Electoral College. So that has made many wonder why they should even bother with the shit at all, if they are just going to be ignored anyway. Many people have spent the last four years trying to convince Americans not to think like that, to still have faith in the system. However, the people see all this shit in the news about court challenges being filed here, there and everywhere across America against the electoral system, and it looks ever more as if their voice does not count for shit. People in Florida Especially felt this way, and now with asll these challenges being filed in so many other states, people all across America are starting to feel the same way too. They are thinking that their votes next month might end up in court somewhere and eventually be invalidated or otherwise thrown out and that combined with the constant warnings about possible terrorist attacks on that day are making more and more people across America think why should they even bother with this shit in the first place. It makes no sense to them to bother watching the debates and listening to what Bush and Kerry have to say and analyzing it and trying to decide which of these two dudes that they are going to support if the decision that they come to at the polling place is going to wind up in some courtroom somewhere being argued over by lawyers and attorneys and judges and be decided by them and not in the way that everyone was taught it would be decided. It looks like there is little point in going to the polling place in two weeks if it is just going to become fodder for the lawyers of America, they get enough out of society as it is, and they do not want to contribute any more to their cause than they already do. So, they will probably stay home and watch a DVD or get online and check their e mail and chat and all that shit instead of bothering to go to the polling place and actually vote. Nobody wants to go vote if it does not count for anything like a vote in Saddam's Iraq or something, they'd just as soon sit this one out and not because they are too rolling stoned either. They'll sit this one out because they feel that it is not in their hands anyway, that it is in the hands of the lawyers and judges and the Electoral College (whoever they are) and there is no longer any reason for them to participate in the system anymore. Since America already has one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the world, this would not seem to be a good thing, there are already few enough people participating as it is, and to cut those numbers down even further seems to be madness. It seems to be the antithesis of everything that America stands for, all that Government of the people, by the people, for the people shit, and it looks more like the political machinations of the USSR or North Korea or Cuba than it looks like The USA. However, as with everything that Washington does, appearances are deceiving and things are not what they seem to be.
Far from being dismayed by these development, washington is thrilled with them, that is why they allowed them to happen in the first place. America has that low voter turnout rate because people are not really encouraged to actually get out on vote, nothing happens to you if you don't. No one yells at you, you are not arrested (one of the few things in America that you are actually not arrested for), no one does anything. Life goes on, tomorrow is another day, and so forth. Americans are only given lip service when it comes to voter encouragement, and no one pushes it too seriously. The system does not collapse when no one shows up at the polls, it functions just fine. The pundits on TV cluck their tongues and say that it is bad, and that's about it, and the opinions of the likes of Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather and Larry King do not matter much to many people, and what they say is ignored. Americans do such a fine job at ignoring elections that there are many people that really do not know who is running this time because they don't care. They will be pissed off because One Tree Hill and their other favorite TV shows won't be on November 2nd because of Election Returns and that will be about the only emotion that they show that day. Washington loves it that way because it is real good for them. They don't want the pesky citizenry going and telling them what to do and all that shit because they consider themselves to be better than the citizens and that's why they are the leaders to begin with. So they have not made any real effort to stop the ever dwindling voter turnouts every election because they want that. In fact, they have gotten so bold that they are now looking to just do away with those annoying elections altogether and just have The Establishment appoint them as leaders of this and that. Some Senators have gone on record as saying that they don't feel that the people should elect them because they do not understand things well enough and that they should just be appointed by Washington. No one has freaked out over these statements because so many Americans just don't care. That has made Washington think that they can indeed get away with eliminating the electoral process altogether and taking things totally out of the hands of the people. They know that Florida in 2000 made many people opt out of the process for good because they felt that their vote did not count. Now, with all of these lawsuits across America, people all throughout the land are starting to feel the same way as they see that their votes could end up in court like Florida's did in 2000. Basically, Washington is telling people in many states that their vote does not count for shit just like they told the Floridians and the rest of America four years ago. They are doing this because they want more people than ever before to stay home on November 2nd, because that furthers their purposes. When the turnout that day is lower than Anyone expected as it always is, that will give credence to the argument that the American people just do not care about the electoral process and that they should just be left out of it as a result. It would be much easier for the politicians to just rely on being appointed by The Establishment than bother with that election shit, what with the campaigning and all, they could just forget about that for good and be appointed like the Supreme Soviet in the USSR Was. The more legal wrangling comes out of this election next month, the better it is for that cause, and you can guarantee that there will be lots of legal wrangling going on long after November 2 has come and gone. This will be one more step in the plan to eliminate Presidential Elections and elections in general in America ,and the American people will do zero about it, and that will play right into Washington's hands too. This is a process that will not happen overnight, as it has been in motion for many years now as it is, but it is a process that is accelerating and if America is not careful, they could very well lose the very thing that allegedly defines their culture, a democratic government, or at least the veneer of one. That is what is at stake on November 2nd, and that is every bit as important as any of the issues that the candidates and pundits are bringing up this election season, however, this issue will be lost in the shuffle of lawsuits and legal challenges that are sure to come out of this year's election.