CODE RED: Computerized Election Theft and The New American Century: Election 2016 Edition

by Jonathan Simon

CODE RED is about what has happened to American elections, American politics, and America since computers took over the vote counting just a few short years ago. The new Election 2016 Edition brings the troubling story up to date, provides more data and analysis, and issues a specific action plan for opening up the darkness of vote-counting cyberspace and restoring an observable counting process to American elections.

CODE RED identifies the red flags--including the glaring ones waving over our most recent elections, E2014 and the 2016 primaries--and provides accessible examinations of why those flags are red. It is a disturbing and provocative call to action. It is about saving our democracy and our country. Now, before it's all gone.

Free and fair elections are the bedrock of a democracy. America, which considers itself the beacon of democracy, has turned to computerized counting for virtually all of its public elections. Several other advanced democracies—including Germany, The Netherlands, and Ireland—have moved away from the computerized tabulation they initially embraced, having recognized the manifest security risks it entails. But America has continued to entrust its elections to privatized and concealed vote counting despite mounting and voluminous evidence that the vulnerabilities to manipulation are not merely hypothetical but are actually being exploited, with profound political consequences.

CODE RED shows how America has come to adopt and embrace such a system and why America is so collectively resistant to any serious reconsideration of its safety and appropriateness. We examine the role of election administrators, politicians, and the media in stifling investigation of the validity of suspect American elections and, more generally, of the safety and rationality of a system proven by experts to be easily corrupted. We also examine the nexus between computerized elections and the veer of American politics over the past few years since the computers took over the counting.

Finally, CODE RED urges possible ways out of this mess, and evaluates the prospects for reform. The conclusion is that time is running short for a political (i.e., non-revolutionary) resolution, and that restoration of electoral legitimacy and political balance will depend on an exercise of public will not witnessed in America within living memory.

CODE RED combines analysis and advocacy and concludes with a powerful call to action: "We need only to break a spell that has been cast on us--a spell of convenience, passivity, helplessness. We need only remember that democracy is not something that we watch, it is something that we do."

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

307 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 14, 2014

About the author

I'm Jonathan Simon, author of CODE RED: Computerized Election Theft And The New American Century, co-founder and currently Executive Director of Election Defense Alliance (www.ElectionDefenseAlliance.org), a nonprofit organization founded in 2006 to restore observable vote counting and electoral integrity as the foundation of American democracy.

I have expertise in polling and statistical analysis derived from my time as a political survey research analyst in Washington, DC. I've also authored, both individually and in collaboration, numerous papers related to various aspects of election integrity. I've been active in election integrity efforts since 2001, appearing in several election integrity-related films, as an interviewee on several dozen live programs, and tweeting @JonathanSimon14.

I'm a graduate of Harvard College ('78), New York University School of Law ('86), and New York Chiropractic College ('90). I am admitted to the Bar of Massachusetts, hold membership in the legal honor society Order of the Coif, and since 1993 have directed an interdisciplinary healthcare facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Who among us would trust an election where the ballots were handed to a man, dressed in a magicians's costume, who took them behind a curtain and emerged some time later, claiming he had counted and then shredded them, to tell us who won? What if the man were wearing a "So-And-So For President" button or some other partisan signifier? And what if the results of key and close elections...kept going that same way? How many, and what overall pattern of, strange results would it take before we insisted on going behind the curtain with him...to observe the count?...If the votes are counted in secret...it does not matter how or by whom, the results lack legitimacy." ---Jonathan D. Simon, "Code Red: Computerized Election Theft and New American Century."

People need to read this book. And then do something about it.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like the book very much. The author opens up with a strong conspiratorial stance without providing concrete evidence. Instead, they ask a bunch of vague questions and use that to justify their position. They also make many allusions to events they assume are obvious, so they don't provide good explanations.

At the same time, I do agree with their proposed solutions to make the election process more secure.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was obtained through First Reads. I thank both the author, Mr. Simon, and Goodreads for this opportunity.

Theft!? Corruption!? Under the table handshakes!? By our world leaders, let alone our own government!? But, don't they go into office for the good of us, the people?

The book is well laid out. I enjoyed the Q&A format making up the first half of the book, making it easier to understand and to get the point across. The second half of the book goes into charts and graphs and methodology of the Red Shift, and is also presented in an easy to digest way.

It's a somewhat depressing book, but I can see many people showing shock and surprise, getting steamed and telling their friends, then going out to vote for these same clowns. No letters, phone calls, emails to the culprits. Sheep don't want to be bothered. Maybe that's why we, the sheep, are placate in our attitude toward the crimes that go on in the corporate board rooms, the halls of justice, the various government offices?

The book is about lying, cheating and stealing at any cost. The book is about the narcissists, and often psychopathic, people who run the world. It's their nature. They are wired that way. They could also care less about the people they rule over. They go into office for power, money, and prestige. The book attempts to bring to light to the masses just one of the tactics our officials spend a lot of their time on to WIN.

...for the people, by the people? Think again.