Preparing For The Stolen Mid-Term Elections

Earnest Partridge (of The Crisis Papers and The Online Gadfly) has today explained beautifully why it is so important for those of us that doubt the integrity of our elections, to vote on Election Day:

Given the likelihood of another rigged election, does this mean that those of us who desire a Democratic victory - apparently a sizeable majority of likely voters - should simply give up, accept the inevitable, and stay at home?

By no means. We should redouble our efforts. For even if the GOP retains control of Congress through still more of the same electronic vote fraud combined with their familiar vote-suppression schemes, this could be the election that finally exposes and puts an end to the paperless, non-verifiable e-vote scam. If the election precincts are flooded with crowds of angry citizens demanding the ouster of the Republican majority in Congress, the GOP just might be made to pay an exorbitant price for one more rigged election.

I have gone back and forth on this many times, wondering if participating in what I am convinced are unsound elections, that can be (and have been) manipulated by GOP operatives, is if fact lending legitimacy to illegitimate elections. I have seen no indication that my vote, here in Seattle, has been nullified through manipulation of votes on privately owned machines, but when the political calculations are made and even one race in Ohio can be altered in order to maintain a national hold on power, does my vote really matter anyway? The answer of course is no, but that means that the only option is to expose the vulnerabilities in our voting systems AND to help bring light to the crime of vote rigging that has already taken place and that will likely occur again. That means showing up at the polls, casting a vote and watching carefully, not only my own local results, but those around the country as well. But most importantly, it means being willing to question official results that smell fishy and loudly demanding verification and accountability from election officials that are supposed to work for us, the American people.

This is no time to sit on the sidelines, regardless of how corrupt the system may be. Without the vote, we no longer have a democratic republic. Half of us in this country already understand that we have passed that point, but in order to get the other half to join us, we need traditional media to cover the story. That will only happen if they are shamed into doing so, by election results that defy logic coupled with ordinary people demanding an explanation. We have had the former before (several times), we must be willing to provide the latter if we ever hope to get our country back.