With no apologies for being the turd in the punchbowl, I want to share my reading of yesterday's election. There's a lot of undisguised celebrating going on - even among the nominally and professionally impartial - and I have already had to respond to a fair number of "See I told you there was nothing to worry about!" pokes. However . . . Lest anyone for a minute believe that yesterday's … [Read More...]
CODE RED: Read it and Weep Act!
CODE RED is about election meddling and its impact on American politics since the computers took over the vote counting at the start of this century.
It is a compelling call to action, about saving our democracy and our country. Now, before it is all gone.
Now expanded and updated for the 2018 election.
Between Trump and a Hard Place: The Truth About "Rigged" Elections
Jonathan SimonTruth-out.org
Donald Trump speaks at a fly-in campaign event in Wilmington, Ohio, November 4, 2016. (Photo: Damon Winter / The New York Times)
What happens when a dangerous and serial liar like Donald Trump blunders onto an inconvenient and disruptive truth?The truth Trump is inadvertently pointing to is not that elections in the United States are rigged, but that our privatized, electronic vote counting system is unobservable and incapable of proving that it is not rigged. This is a true crisis for American democracy. Yet, it would be hard to imagine a more unsuitable and uninformed standard-bearer for electoral integrity than Mr. Trump. His glib debate-night plan to hold America "in suspense" about whether he would accept electoral defeat was coupled with some racially-tinged nonsense about "voter fraud" in the millions, and the nonsensical proposition that Hillary Clinton should not be allowed to run for office because of her email-related issues and other supposed disqualifiers.
Predictably, Trump's message about "rigged" elections immediately resonated with his faithful (a significant bump in his poll numbers was detected). At the same time, it predictably provoked a rousing chorus of official denial, proclaiming the virtues of American democracy and the unquestionable security of our elections. These ringing assurances have come from all quarters of the political and media establishment, from president to pundit.
Lost, though, in the bipartisan condemnation of Trump and passionate renditions of America the Beautiful is an undeniable reality. Our computerized, unobservable vote counting system actually cannot prove or demonstrate that it is fraud-free. It simply cannot answer a challenge to its fidelity from Trump or anyone else, whether the challenge is justified or baseless, sincere or cynical. Keep reading at Truth-Out.org (opens in new tab)
Jonathan Simon Presents "An Evening on Election (In)Security" at The National Press Club in Washington on April 16, 2019
Praise for Code Red
"Jonathan Simon’s CODE RED is unique, easy-to-understand, and vastly important."- Andrew Kreig, Justice Integrity Project
"As a professional statistician, I found CODE RED’s data, analysis, and conclusions compelling.”
- Dr. Elizabeth Clarkson, Wichita State University
"Jonathan Simon’s research is thorough and his case is more than compelling … He has provided an important public service."
- John Zogby, founder of The Zogby Poll
