CONFESSION: I was part of the conspiracy

Election 2004 conspiracy theories and accusations abound (example 1 and example 2). One of the smoking guns is the analysis of the Florida votes. The number of non-Republican Bush voters far exceeds the common sense of the analyst; therefore it must be some sort of conspiracy to commit fraud. In a shocking development the percentage of Florida voters using touch screen machines fell in line with Democratic expectations while the percent of votes from the optical scanner machines are skewed toward Bush.

I cannot hide the truth any longer. I was personally involved in this conspiracy. WOW, do I feel better now. You see way back when QuinQube came of age (voting age that is) it was unheard of in North Florida for a Republican to run for office. Most local elections were decided in the Democratic primaries, only Democrats could vote in the Democratic primary, ergo if you wanted to have a vote you had to be a Democrat. I was actually proud to register as a Democrat at the time I believed they stood for the little man. Besides I’ve always voted for the candidate and not the party. As Zell Miller noted, over the years the Democratic Party abandoned the things it stood for and lost its way. Times have changed and now it is more likely to have Republicans in a primary instead of Democrats. I may eventually be forced to change my registration just so I can have a vote in local elections. (the more things change. . .)

So there you have it – Mrs. QuinQube and I helped skew the stats. So I guess that makes us part of the conspiracy.

Now as far as the voting machines: My county uses the "suspect" optical scanner. Not sure which counties use the touch screens. Not at all surprised the stats for North Florida would appear suspicious. By the way, I have more faith in the optical scanners than the touch screen. The optical scanner requires the voter to fill out a paper ballot and feed it into the machine. This means there is an audit trail. I challenge those convinced of a conspiracy to sample the paper ballots and see how they compare to the official results.

Perhaps the real conspiracy involved the touch screens with votes being changed in favor of Kerry. Show me proof anyone conspired to commit fraud and I'll join the posse to bring him or her to justice; regardless of their ride – donkey, elephant, or lone wolf.

Some people run from a possible fight
Some people figure they can never win
And although this is a fight I can lose
The accused is an innocent man
I am an innocent man
- from the song "An Innocent Man" words by Billy Joel (c) 1983

UPDATE: Wired News agrees with me (Florida E-Vote Fraud? Unlikely)