‘I have not seen, in my lifetime, a campaign so dishonest, so crude, so based in fear and so redolent of third-world and banana-republic tactics’. ibid. Peter Hitchens re 2015 election
Donate £19 or more and we’ll send you this limited edition Grayson Perry bag [Vote Labour]. ibid.
The moment you start looking at the postal votes … what was the scale of it? ibid.
If you don’t have an informed public, that’s the greatest threat to democracy. Lawrence Krauss, The Unebelievers, with Richard Dawkins, 2013
We must be strong and resolute whenever democracy’s threatened. Bob Roberts 1992 starring Tim Robbins & Giancarlo Esposito & Ray Wise & Gore Vidal & John Cusack & Peter Gallagher & Alan Rickman & Susan Sarandon & James Spader & Fred Ward & Brian Murray et al, director Tim Robbins
In 1976 Jimmy Carter was elected the president. Seven month before the Democratic convention the Gallop poll reported less than 4% of registered Democrats favoured Carter for president. Outside Georgia where he was governor few people knew who he was. What happened? Carter received a media blitz including adulatory pieces in The New York Times and a Wall Street Journal editorial declaring him the best Democratic candidate. The TV networks inundated the public with his image. Before the nominating Convention his picture appeared on Time cover three times and Newsweek cover twice. The Real Leaders of the World
What the governments have done is to turn from a democracy into an oligarchy, and we’re seeing an oligarchy and in fact a kleptocracy emerge here. The governments are not representing the interests of their constituents. Generation OS13: The New Culture of Resistance, 2011
Western democratic governments have become puppets to corporate and banking interests. ibid.
A stunning landmark: free elections for ordinary people decades before it came to Britain and America. Simon Schama’s Rough Crossings, BBC 2018
‘Over the past year the Supreme Court in more than one case has tackled gerrymandering.’ Field of Vision: Crooked Lines, Berra & Richen & Olive, short 11.38 2018, PBS News
Covington v North Carolina Val Applewhite: ‘It impacts their lives.’ ibid. interview
‘A mass a crooked lines.’ ibid.
‘Egregious to the democratic principles of this country.’ ibid. Val
‘Drawing the lines in order to dilute the voting power of a minority, of a racial minority.’ ibid. lecturer
‘The Supreme Court directed the North Carolina legislature to redraw the maps.’ ibid. Val
Following the hearings, the federal courts ruled the state legislature’s drafts of the new maps invalid. ibid. caption
These new maps will be used in the midterm elections. ibid.
America: the world’s greatest democracy, and at its heart the vote, the will of the people. But how do you know if the vote is counted correctly? And if you don’t know then what have you got? Democracy? James Naughton, Hacking Democracy, HBO 2006
This is the story of a small group of citizens headed by a grandmother … How does American count its vote. What they found is secrecy, votes in the trash and how to change the course of history. ibid.
In 2000 Al Gore lost the presidential election in Florida amongst the chaos and arguments over how to recount the votes, but no-one thought to ask how the computers originally counted the results. ibid.
The origin of the negative votes was never proved. ibid.
‘… Dozens and dozens of elections that were miscounted by machines.’ ibid. activist
Computers count around 80% of America’s votes. ibid.
Why were there so many security flaws and why could they count votes backwards? ibid.
‘Why they [Diebold] are collecting receivables from the Republican committee?’ ibid. activist
Diebold was called to account by the state of California. ibid.
‘The source code in fact got out. The key is not published.’ ibid. inquiry dude
‘They did not fix any of the problems. ibid. activist
They malfunctioned leaving thousands without a vote. ibid.
‘We cannot win this [Ohio] election’ [John Kerry] … People were stunned. John Kerry had promised to challenge the machines … Kerry stopped any investigation by conceding. ibid.