<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1264" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>After researching this a bit, my sense is that 1) critics of high-tech voting have good points, and there's much to be scared of, but 2) the notion that Diebold somehow threw the 2002 Georgia elections is a classic example of the left relying on a conspiracy theory when there are more straightforward explanations which point to internal failures -- Cleland ran a horrible campaign, was drifting right, etc. -- and opposition strengths -- Ralph Reed ran the GA Republican Party expertly and successfully rode the Republican wave. Etc. Many political analysts and operatives in and out of GA saw both Cleland and Barnes as very vulnerable, for a host of reasons, so I wouldn't bank too much on those polls that keep getting tossed around on the vote-fixing sites.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Diebold is your typical Republican-leaning corporation (see <A href="http://www.southernstudies.org/reports/votingmachines-new.htm">http://www.southernstudies.org/reports/votingmachines-new.htm</A>) but that's not proof that they stole votes. C'mon, their machines elected Lula.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>That being said, only time (and further investigative work, that doesn't rely on polls and speculation) will tell ...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>CK</DIV></BODY></HTML>