In a democracy, gang, voter fraud is never okay. It doesn't matter which side you are on, it is simply never okay. Just because the Democrats appear to have done it this time, and just because most of us reading (and writing) this blog are liberal Democrats, it doesn't mean it's okay. It means you aren't living in a free democracy, that the votes of the citizens are not being accurately counted, and that you have every reason to be afraid of what the future will bring.

A Maryland State Delegate, Katheryn Afzali, announced Monday that she has asked the FBI "to impound two voting machines used in the 2012 election to determine whether there was a malfunction or something nefarious going on." [Complete article is here; quotes from the article are below.]

"'We’re not making any accusations. The Board of Elections are good people. They have checks and balances … but we want to make sure everything is fair.'

"She said a number of people contacted her after the Nov. 6 election to report that they pressed a touch-screen button for GOP candidate Mitt Romney, but the vote registered for Barack Obama.

“'My request [to the FBI] is … I want them to take these machines. Let an FBI computer expert analyze them,' she said.

"She said that among those who contacted her with concerns were two officials, including a state lawmaker who personally experienced a vote machine changing his vote three times to the party whose agenda he opposed.

"The lawmaker told her that his computer background left him confident that the problem was beyond a technical glitch, and he insisted that the election judge take the machine out of service and lock it up.

"Another concern was raised by Carroll County Commissioner Richard Rothschild. who said it’s critical that the machines be analyzed properly to determine what happened.

“'We need to freeze them in their current state, not wipe out data,' he said.

"He said his constituent reported the same scenario as has been reported: hitting the touch-screen button for Romney but finding that it registered for Obama.

"Rothschild said it’s a major problem that has to be addressed in order for Americans to continue trusting their election system." [Complete article is here.]

Similar issues occurred in Pennsylvania and Ohio: where  "Obama got a total of 19,605 votes in 59 voting divisions to zero for Mitt Romney and not far from the 100 precincts in Ohio where Obama got 99 percent of the vote, a feat not even achieved by third-world dictators. It was in Upper Macungie Township, near Allentown, Pa., where an auditor, Robert Ashcroft, was dispatched by Republicans to monitor the vote on Election Day. He said the software he observed would 'change the selection back to default – to Obama.'”

From Philly.com: "59 voting divisions in Philadelphia produced a 'head-spinning figure,' not one vote for Romney. 'The unanimous support for Obama in these Philadelphia neighborhoods – clustered in almost exclusively black sections of West and North Philadelphia – fertilizes fears of fraud, despite little hard evidence,' the newspaper said.

Also:

Fox News reported that voters in Nevada, North Carolina, Texas and Ohio also said they had pushed a button on a touch-screen voting machine for Romney, but the machines recorded their vote for Obama.

At the White House website, there was posted a petition seeking a recount of the race. “In one county alone in Ohio, which was a battleground state, President Obama received 106,258 votes … but there were only 98,213 eligible voters. It’s not humanly possible to get 108 percent of the vote,” the petition claims.

We'll see what the FBI says, when they get around to it... Meanwhile, while we wait on the FBI, perhaps we should spend some time re-reading the US Constitution and our Bill of Rights, and ask ourselves if it's just corny hoopla to continue to be the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave", or if it's indeed still worth fighting for.