Well? What's Up Dunn County?!?
The Invasion of the electronic machines in our elections
On February 6th, 2023 I witnessed at the City Council meeting at City Hall after hearing both public comments and discussion by council members on the pro’s and con’s of using the electronic poll book called, Badger Books in the City of Menomonie wards election process which led to a roll call vote of approval authorizing the purchase of yet more electronic equipment to our election apparatus. I heard anything from the need for accuracy along with it’s efficiency, speed and ease of use to the vulnerabilities of Badger Books taking over our election process undermining the integrity of the elections in our wards. It was even mentioned by Kate Martin, City of Menomonie Clerk that Badger Books is connected within the network of the polling place which means use of intranet. Unfortunately, the Badger Books team will not inform you that regardless of the fact it’s just connected on the intranet vs. internet, there is still a high probability of Badger Books and/or the tabulators getting hacked within the polling place or in the parking lot. Remember, the Badger Books team from Paragon Development Services are trying to make a sale and delivery of the Badger Books. Do you really think they are going to tell you the disadvantages of using Badger Books in your polling place? Probably not if they want to seal the deal.
What is disturbing is the addition of more electronic equipment in our election process which is becoming less transparent, vulnerable to manipulation, hacking and a complete management and control of our elections. The more gadgets you add into our election process the more complicated it becomes. What happened to just a clerk, a chief inspector, poll inspectors and observers, voters, paper ballots and a pen within a ward? Just simplicity. No machines, no third party vendors that are out of state telling us how to run our election in our ward, no more software hacks, no more paper jams, no more ballots being spit out of machine because of the folds of the absentee ballots. We need checks and balances in our election process. With Badger Books we will lose an inspector to our checks and balances to verify the legitimacy of the voter. And what if we end up losing power in which the electronic equipment rely on, we would be reverting back to simplicity - just human beings with paper ballots, paper poll books and a pen. Honest and transparent simplicity.
It appears we are relying on the electronic equipment to do the work for us. Less critical thinking, reasoning or just using plain common sense. Convenience and efficiency takes over the integrity of the entire election apparatus. We are becoming a robot without using our God given gift of using our brain. Frightening enough, what is happening in our society is to the point of becoming the fixture of artificial intelligence. Transhumanism is evolving quickly. The smartphones, the chip in the credit/debit cards, the pay apps to use at checkout on our smartphones AND it’s already here - a microchip to put underneath your wrist to pay at checkout with your financial information, medical information and who knows what the world else kind of information is loaded unto the microchip. This is not a made up sci-fi movie folks. It’s reality. My Golly Gee, you can use your smartphone to regulate your appliances and thermostat - Internet of Things. All for the common goal of convenience, it’s quick and easy, a shortcut to a process. Yep, it’s hard to argue the society we live in presently has become a “I want it NOW” - instant gratification society. What is really sad with transhumanism is we are becoming thinkless human beings which is down right scary!! No more thought going into the process of making a decision, no more reasoning, comparing, researching, using our intuition or discernment that warns us, directs us, and protects us from danger and harm or from making an ill-fated choice. Oh, but that’s right, A.I. is perfect therefore it can think for you.
Which leads into the notion, just like in our election process, they want you to think the machines are perfect. They are not prone to mistakes like us humans therefore you need to accept the outcome of the machines. But wait a second! Humans create the software programming for the machines! Humans built the hardware of the machines. Therefore, they are flawed too.
Currently, it feels like an invasion of the machines in our election process in the City of Menomonie and eventually in the townships of Dunn County as well. I guess you can say, some of my Dunn County neighbors will welcome the invasion of the machines for the sake of ease and convenience along with speed while others feel the machines are taking away the integrity and transparency of our election process in which without honest elections we therefore have no country.
From one Dunn County Neighbor to another - Choose Simplicity
Laurie J Christianson
Bulletin Board moment:
Due to Winter Storm Olive, Dunn County Patriots Two Year Celebration on Feb. 23rd, 2023 has been cancelled. Rescheduled for March 9th, 2023.
Great to see this article! Menomonites should note that this major change to our election processes happened very quietly and quickly, which is the way the Mayor and Council often operate. Citizens were only made vaguely aware of this move the previous Friday - IF they were paying close attention (and who is?) Attempts to get the Council to postpone the vote until more research and discussion about the election integrity ramifications could be considered were dismissed in a UNANIMOUS vote to move forward with the purchase. Not taking the time to talk and really listen to community members on such a major and controversial decision is the way politicians operate, not public servants. Why the rush? Does it have anything to do with the supreme court primary? That won't be a high turnout election with long lines, but could strongly influence the party power balance in Wisconsin for the next two years and would be an obvious target for cheating. We will see if the Books are there on February 21.
Laurie you explained it very well. Thank you!!