Moonbase

Former Slashdot editor pudge checks RFK’s sources. Jaskeet Sekhon, one of the statistical experts who worked on the DNC’s Ohio voting report claims:

RFK’s article is misconceiving, socially damaging and simply wrong—much like his previous one on autism and vaccines. RFK selectively cites the DNC report. More voters supported Bush in Ohio in 2004 than Kerry. There is no scientific evidence that they did not. There were some irregularities (such as the allocation of voting machines), but they were not large enough to change the outcome. Bush won in 2004; Democrats have to admit that he really did if they are to fix their electoral problems much like how an alcoholic first has to admit that s/he has a problem.

(As an aside, Sekhon does believe that the butterfly ballot fiasco cost Gore the election in 2000. His report looks pretty damning, though I’m admittedly not a statistician.)

But also, in a way I think this may be becoming a useful distraction from our current, much graver problem: easily manipulable electronic voting machines. Going on about Ohio without addressing electronic voting is a bit like arguing over who forgot to change the batteries in the smoke detector last week while you’re still living in a wooden fire trap stuffed to the ceiling with oily rags.

While butterfly ballots and partisan influence in the allocation of voting machines may invite convenient incompetence, electronic voting is a playground for active malfeasance, and I’ve no particular reason to trust the Republicans or the Democrats. (It’s nice being an independent.)