NPR Misses Golden Opportunity

I sent NPR this response to a lame story they did on complaints of voter fraud & disenfranchisement:

I was disappointed and troubled to hear Pam Fessler simply repeating the apology made by Diebold for their CEO’s remarks that it is his job to “deliver the voters of Ohio to the Republican Party.” The issue is not whether or not Diebold or its executives have made contributions to political campaigns or parties, but rather the security of their voting systems. Additionally, there is still the issue that electronic voting machines can be programmed to “cheat” by not counting votes correctly.

The fact that electronic voting is not hacker-proof, nor is its source code entirely public, clearly calls into question the integrity of our democracy. NPR missed a golden opportunity to explore the problems of electronic voting and instead opted to
reinforce the status quo that is threatening our voting system.

Moreover, the entire tone of the discussion was to diminish voters’ concerns about disenfranchisement by calling these issues “conspiracy theories.” This attitude berates the serious issues we face in regards to our democracy. Voter fraud and disenfranchisement is not just whining on the part of disappointed democrats, it is a public outcry to protect democracy.

The media should head this call and do some real investigative reporting.