'Hacking Democracy' DVD review

Hacking Democracy DVD Released

By Susan Pynchon, Florida Fair Elections Coalition
March 27, 2007

"It is hard to imagine...a documentary this season that is more important to the civic life of the nation--let alone one that is so compelling and ultimately moving." Baltimore Sun

The documentary film "Hacking Democracy", originally broadcast on HBO, is being released today on DVD. The film takes a nonpartisan, clear-eyed look at the secrecy, cronyism, and incompetence of elections in present-day America as it captures a citizen's movement intent on taking back elections--and democracy itself.

For me personally, I know that talking to legislators who have seen this movie is like night and day compared to those who haven't seen it. The film definitely makes the "light bulb" go on as far as the vulnerability of electronic voting systems. I wish I could afford to send a copy to every legislator in the U.S.

Christine Jennings (Florida CD-13 contested race) has said, for example, that she has seen the movie twice. A local candidate in Volusia County who saw the film demanded a ballot inspection of her race (full manual recounts
aren't allowed in Florida) and did public records requests to our supervisor of elections to get information on the memory cards used, something a typical candidate would normally not think of doing.

The DVD, available at http://www.hackingdemocracy.com, contains "extra" segements not included in the original film, including great footage from Riverside California (Michelle Townsend); Volusia County, Florida; Glades County, Florida; and more.

On the website, you can also see fascinating TV footage of the trial and sentencing of the Ohio election workers in Cuyahoga County. Russ Michaels, one of the directors and producers of "Hacking Democracy," says the website
will be adding more footage all the time from their vast store of film segments from elections around the country.