Now it begins

MANIFESTO

Cyrus Farivar of Salon.com reports:

I noted in passing last week that West Virginia has had the distinct honor of being the first state in the union to report problems (surprise! surprise!) with its electronic voting systems. There are now also reports that similar problems have been happening in Tennessee and Texas as well. No doubt these won't be the last.

So what exactly has happened? Largely, the problem has been what's been dubbed "vote flipping" or "vote switching"—which is exactly what it sounds like.

How many freakin' elections do we have to go through before county clerks, secretaries of state, and their ilk realize that electronic voting machines either don't work or are too vulnerable to sabotage?

With these kinds of shenanigans occurring with election day still a week away, it's no wonder that "both parties are amassing thousands and thousands of lawyers to keep an eye on the polls."