Texas Herald-Zeitung: Venezuela Controls U.S. Elections
Who controls U.S. elections?
By R. Edward MooreThe Herald-Zeitung
Published October 20, 2006
Harvard University and Princeton University, in a joint study, have found that a hacker, given 30 seconds alone with an electronic voting machine, can plant a virus on that machine.
When the infected machine’s votes are downloaded at the end of the day, the virus infects the main computer and thus determines the election results giving victory to whomever the hacker desires. How? Using a key available over the internet for less than $3 the hacker opens the voting machine up and replaces a chip. The replacement chip has the virus code on it. The code for the virus and how to put it on the chip is available on the internet. It is all simple, low-level computer technology.
But it gets worse.
Why hack when you can control the company that makes and services the machines?
Hugo Chavez in control of electronic voting machines in America? True.
A Venezuelan company called Smartmatic International, parent of Sequoia Voting Systems, now provides electronic voting machines for millions of Americans.
Smartmatic started as a small software company in Caracas, Venezuela during the late 1990s. Despite having no election experience, the small company was awarded a $100 million contract by the Chávez-dominated National Electoral Council to replace Venezuela’s electronic voting machines for the Chavez recall vote. The one Jimmy Carter endorsed.
Smartmatic in America is still owned/controlled by the Venezuelan government through a complicated series of shell corporations.
Exit polls of the Chavez recall election, by New York’s Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, showed Chávez had been defeated 59 to 41 percent. But when official tallies were announced, the numbers changed to 58-42 in favor of Chávez. Using data from Venezuela's electoral council, mathematicians from MIT and Harvard found suspicious patterns in the machine-by-machine results. Now Smartmatic has set up offices in America and has been selling the same electronic voting machines used in the Venezuelan elections to many states in America.
California, New York and Chicago and 19 other states use Smartmatic machines.In states that use Smartmatic machines, Smartmatic company technicians not only prepare the machines right before the elections, they also tally the final vote. That means Venezuelans will have direct control of the election outcomes in many states in this next election.
“Just as the Dubai ports deal was a priority security issue, any potential foreign influence on our elections system is vital to our national security and deserves at least a look,” said Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney.
So what about the national security concerns over a company owned and controlled by an anti-American government having direct control over American election outcomes?
Call your congressman and senator and get things changed now, before it is a long-distance call to Caracas. Call your New Braunfels City councilperson and county commissioner and tell them you don’t want the all-electronic machines — with no paper record — they are going to use here in the next election.
Speak up while you still can.
By R. Edward MooreThe Herald-Zeitung
Published October 20, 2006
Harvard University and Princeton University, in a joint study, have found that a hacker, given 30 seconds alone with an electronic voting machine, can plant a virus on that machine.
When the infected machine’s votes are downloaded at the end of the day, the virus infects the main computer and thus determines the election results giving victory to whomever the hacker desires. How? Using a key available over the internet for less than $3 the hacker opens the voting machine up and replaces a chip. The replacement chip has the virus code on it. The code for the virus and how to put it on the chip is available on the internet. It is all simple, low-level computer technology.
But it gets worse.
Why hack when you can control the company that makes and services the machines?
Hugo Chavez in control of electronic voting machines in America? True.
A Venezuelan company called Smartmatic International, parent of Sequoia Voting Systems, now provides electronic voting machines for millions of Americans.
Smartmatic started as a small software company in Caracas, Venezuela during the late 1990s. Despite having no election experience, the small company was awarded a $100 million contract by the Chávez-dominated National Electoral Council to replace Venezuela’s electronic voting machines for the Chavez recall vote. The one Jimmy Carter endorsed.
Smartmatic in America is still owned/controlled by the Venezuelan government through a complicated series of shell corporations.
Exit polls of the Chavez recall election, by New York’s Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, showed Chávez had been defeated 59 to 41 percent. But when official tallies were announced, the numbers changed to 58-42 in favor of Chávez. Using data from Venezuela's electoral council, mathematicians from MIT and Harvard found suspicious patterns in the machine-by-machine results. Now Smartmatic has set up offices in America and has been selling the same electronic voting machines used in the Venezuelan elections to many states in America.
California, New York and Chicago and 19 other states use Smartmatic machines.In states that use Smartmatic machines, Smartmatic company technicians not only prepare the machines right before the elections, they also tally the final vote. That means Venezuelans will have direct control of the election outcomes in many states in this next election.
“Just as the Dubai ports deal was a priority security issue, any potential foreign influence on our elections system is vital to our national security and deserves at least a look,” said Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney.
So what about the national security concerns over a company owned and controlled by an anti-American government having direct control over American election outcomes?
Call your congressman and senator and get things changed now, before it is a long-distance call to Caracas. Call your New Braunfels City councilperson and county commissioner and tell them you don’t want the all-electronic machines — with no paper record — they are going to use here in the next election.
Speak up while you still can.
posted by ConcernedVoter06 at 5:14 PM
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