Dave Berman describes this idea in two ways:
[W]e have the intentional creation and perpetuation of inherent uncertainty. It serves the power structure to keep the masses divided. Wedge issues are just the most superficial and obvious ways. More insidious and apparently not as easy to recognize is the rift in the perception of reality created by inherent uncertainty.
He explains further, in tonight’s email to me:
I think inherent uncertainty is intentionally created through various means including sheer laziness and false balance, but also in situations where "truth" can never really be known - secret vote counting, for example. Whatever is published is presented as if it were a certain fact….
Leaving it to the media consumer to decide also facilitates a rift in the perception of reality. This is the linchpin of it all, since matters of fact are forcibly devolved into differences of opinion that can never be resolved (since we can never know the true outcome of any election counted in secret).
Instead of fighting about who was right, the pollsters or the machines, we are better served by removing machines from public elections and reaching conclusive outcomes - results that can be repeatedly verified by anyone.
We do this by upgrading to hand-counted paper ballots at the precinct, on election night, before all who wish to observe. Results are then posted at the precinct for all to verify.
There are several hundred precincts in the nation that still hand count paper ballots, on election night. It takes 4-5 hours, depending on the number of counting teams. It’s done at the precinct level, which handles about 1,000 registered voters. A fresh team of counters can be pooled from the list of registered voters, and the audit verification is part of the hand-counting process.
Hand-counting is simple – we’ve been doing it for over 125 years on a mass scale. It’s the least expensive, and the easiest to secure from fraud. It is a “high order civic duty” according to Sally Castleman, Executive Director of Election Defense Alliance.
Transparent vote counting will yield inherent certainty, since any group of people can count the voter-prepared ballots to arrive at the same conclusive outcomes. This is what we deserve and demand.
Call or write your representative and demand these machines be banned from use in the United States. Stand up for transparent vote counting that leads to conclusive results. Stand up for democracy. Do it now.
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