Florida Denied!

      In what can only be seen as a set back for voters in Florida, a judge has rejected the need for a paper trail in voting. In a lawsuit, filed by U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, it was contended that Florida had no accurate way to count votes from touch screen voting machines in the event that a recount was needed.

Touch-screen machines "provide sufficient safeguards" of constitutional rights by warning voters when they have not cast votes in individual races and allowing them to make a final review of their ballots, U.S. District Judge James Cohn ruled.

      This goes beyond right or left politics. This is about every American's vote counting. All American's should be outraged at the thought that votes may be lost, corrupted, or miscast. As a Floridian, I have been following this issue for more than a year and have read the reports from small town papers and previous errors. The fact is that there has not been one single smooth election on these machines since they have entered our election process.

      Now before you go damning Florida and blaming it for it's shortfalls, I would ask you to look at your state as well. This is a trend I have found that lives in each and every state in this country. I ask that you get involved in knowing what is happening in your own backyards instead of your neighbors and bring these issues to the surface in the hopes of making sure that no voter is denied their right to elect a leader of the great country.

      While Wexler will appeal the ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, it is too late to see any change in this election. This further proves the point that we need to act early and educate. While some say that we need to vote early or through absentee, let us remember that in 2000 there was massive fraud in all states with absentee ballots as well as voter ignorance in being able to even sign their ballot. So education and activism are the keys. Inform your family, make your kids get involved in politics, spend an hour with the elderly teaching them how to use the new tech, and in general give a rat's ass about the election and the voters. We can make a difference to those around us and ensure that at least you get things right.