Although I have misgivings about computer-based voting, it wouldn't occur to me to lay a predicate foundation for a charge of malfeasance by Republicans in Florida and elsewhere in this upcoming election. But that is what Paul Krugman has done in his latest outburst of insinuations. He, like the Democratic Party as a whole, is almost wanting there to be another chance at declaring fraud in Florida. That way, they can feel vindicated in the event that they lose the state again. But Tom Bevan at RealClearPolitics has got Krugman's number, demonstrating that all Krugman is doing is
Sowing seeds of fear, doubt and illegitimacy in advance of a possible Bush victory in Florida.
Too bad for Krugman the facts don't support such lunacy. A recently completed study of the 2002 Florida elections showed that while touch-screen machines produce a higher rate of undervotes than optical-scanning machines, both are dramatically more accurate than the punch card ballots used in 2000 - with paper trail and all:
The report is required of the division following every general election as a result of the 2001 elections reform law passed after the contentious 2000 presidential election.
It concluded that the use of both systems helped reduce the error rate from the 2000 election.
"Overall, the percentage of uncounted ballots decreased from 2.93 percent in the 2000 election presidential election to 0.86 in the 2002 gubernatorial election," the report stated, adding that the error for the now-infamous punch-card machines in 2000 was 3.93 percent.
Well, if the Dhimms can't blame touch-screen voting machines, maybe they can go back to such bullshit charges as black disenfranchisement through police checkpoints.