Uncounted

The contemporary saga of electoral tampering (which many believe decided the 2000 presidential race) is brought up-to-date in David Earnhardt's activist documentary, which argues that such manipulation not only continued into the 2004 and 2006 elections but threatens to affect the 2008 outcome as well. The initial segments of Uncounted focus on testimony regarding various means used in 2004 by Republicans to suppress likely Democratic votes in Ohio (the state that determined the result of the Bush-Kerry contest), as well as in the midterm elections two years later. These tactics included the simple but effective expedient of allocating too few voting machines to some precincts in order to drive people away in frustration, but also more sophisticated forms of intimidation or registration fraud. The bulk of the argument, however, concerns our reliance on computerized voting machines that, as evidence demonstrates, are manufactured by companies with partisan connections—machines that are not just susceptible to malfunction but also to undetectable manipulation. Stories told here about a California whistleblower who faced legal repercussions for revealing a corporation's suppression of software defects, and a Florida party activist—now a U.S. congressman—who secretly sought to develop a “vote-flipping” device, are especially galling. Some may dismiss Uncounted as mere polemic (it certainly concentrates on Republican malfeasance, while only briefly noting that Democrats have also abused the system), but it makes a strong case for the importance of protecting the electoral process by requiring that electronic voting machines leave a paper trail for possible recounts (which also limits the opportunities for officeholders to pervert the process for their own partisan ends). DVD extras include an hour's worth of deleted scenes and extended interviews and speeches. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)