Cathy Flaig challenged incumbent Boone County Kentucky Judge Executive Gary Moore in the republican primary in May. At the end of the day Moore had racked up 74 more votes than Flaig out of over 12.000 cast. She requested a recount and has been paying the freight. Now she wants more proof. Good for her.
We in America pride ourselves on the notion that we choose our government ("by the people" and all that). We cringe when we hear of stolen elections in Iran, Afghanistan, Venezuela, China, Moscow and other places. We like to think that our system of recording and counting votes is the best in the world. But some are not so sure.
For many years now there have been concerns circulating that electronic vote counting machines are not reliable. Al Gore took this challenge to its high water mark in 2000 in Florida. Over the last decade some people have lost trust in the elections process in America.
It has always been difficult to convince people to vote, and telling them that every vote counts becomes even less convincing if they lack confidence in the system that counts them.
Flaig has requested the right to inspect the machines which counted votes in Boone County. She is running into a bit of resistance. But she should not. If her examination shows that the voting system has a high degree of integrity, whether she ultimately wins or loses the seat by virtue of the counting process would be secondary to the service she would provide to the voters.
If her examination shows flaws in the system, or God forbid, a hack, she will have exposed a serious problem which must be addressed in order to regain the public trust toward the election process in the Commonwealth.
Her bold stand and fearless pursuit of the truth will go a long way toward restoring confidence in our voting system, and she should be applauded for taking it. Those who criticize her fail to see the larger picture.
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