Cockblock The Vote: 2004 – Rise of the Machines

It's time for the final installment of… Cockblock the Vote!

Heartened by the smooth process of the prior presidential election, officials again decided to entrust the fate of the free world to machines that are only slightly less inscrutable than R2D2. Critics of electronic voting claimed the companies that made them had close ties to the GOP and Religious Right, while advocates for the machines smiled, waved, and won elections. Both supporters and opponents of Senator John Kerry noted his long face on the morning of November 3, 2004, and most other days actually, but some of the supporters claimed that his defeat was due to skullduggery and other, less cool-sounding forms of duggery in Ohio. Although a partial recount did not dent Bush's lead, multiple irregularities were eventually uncovered when the Ohio GOP was brought to heel by an, um, stamp collecting scandal. Not exactly a blowjob from an intern, but good enough for a slow news day. Concerns about electronic voting persist, but advocates shouldn't bother calling tech support, as India has its own problems: similar complaints have been leveled against their e-voting systems, introduced countrywide in 2003.