blackboxvoting.org is a web site devoted to raising awareness about the security problems and unverifiability issues inherent in paperless electronic voting machines. The operator of the site, Bev Harris, has been contacted by the Secret Service. "They want the logs of my web site with all the forum messages, and the IP addresses. That's right. All of them. A giant fishing expedition for every communication of everyone interested in the voting issue."
If the Secret Service is engaged in a legitimate investigation of a crime, then I am sure that they can come up with a narrower request that targets information that could reasonably be related to the evidence they seek.
If they instead insist on wielding the power of the Patriot Act to execute this overbroad search, then it is hard not to think that their "investigation" is purely a pretextual means of gathering information about all those interested in guaranteeing free, fair, and democratic elections. Very scary.
Posted by Brian at April 30, 2004 07:32 PM | TrackBack