The Associated Press (AP) will be the sole source of raw vote totals for the major news broadcasters on Election Night. However, AP spokesmen Jack Stokes and John Jones refused to explain to this journalist how the AP will receive that information. They refused to confirm or deny that the AP will receive direct feed from voting machines and central vote tabulating computers across the country. But, circumstantial evidence suggests that is exactly what will happen. And what can be downloaded can also be uploaded. Computer experts say that signals can travel both to and from computerized voting machines through wireless technology, modems, and even simple electricity. Computer scientists have long warned that computer voting is an invitation to vote fraud and system failure. An examination of Diebold election software by several computer scientists, including Dr. Avi Rubin and his staff, proved that secret backdoors can be built into computer programs that allow votes to be easily manipulated without detection.
- In Online Journal, Stephen Crockett and Al Lawrence, the hosts of Democratic Talk Radio, wrote, "...the Associated Press ran a story that was widely published in newspapers and on the Internet, headlined "Bush Leads Kerry In Electoral Votes," that could have been written by the Bush campaign. The assignment of states to candidates, the headline and the conclusions were all simply wrong. The Associated Press should print a retraction and work to see that it is widely published."
- And on WBAY TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin ran an AP
article reporting that Bush has won the election, weeks before the
election is to take place. The AP reported, "At this hour, President
Bush has won re-election as president by a 47 percent to 43 percent
margin in the popular vote nationwide. Ralph Nader has 1 percent of the
vote nationwide. That's with 51 percent of the precincts reporting."
According to reports, the AP is now saying the article was a "test
article," a never-heard-before journalistic practice. ([more])
- Who is the AP? The Associated Press was founded in 1848. It is a not-for-profit news cooperative, some would say 'monopoly', that rakes in about $500 million dollars a year. The AP is owned by its 1,500 U.S. daily newspaper members. Their board of directors is elected by voting ?bonds'. However, it is not clear who controls the bonds. AP spokespeople would not give out information on who sits on their board, however AP leadership appears to be conservative. [more]