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MCKINNEY AGAINST ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES: Congresswoman also calls for end of “crossover voting” in primaries.
*Rep. Cynthia McKinney will not remain silent in defeat. Appearing in public for the first time since losing her re-election bid last week, the Democratic congresswoman said the black community needs to oppose electronic voting machines, which she said are designed to steal elections.
McKinney’s comments were made Tuesday during the National Dialogue and Revival for Social Justice in the Black Church. It was sponsored by the Rev. Al Sharpton's group, the National Action Network.
Former DeKalb County commissioner and attorney Hank Johnson defeated McKinney 59 percent to 41 percent in a runoff of the Democratic primary. During her concession speech on election night, McKinney blamed the loss on the news media and electronic voting machines.
"It's critical that you know that you have no way of being sure that your vote was counted," she explained Tuesday.
The six-term legislator charged that Georgia's system of runoff elections, where winners must always receive more than 50 percent of the vote, violates the Voting Rights Act. She also said open primaries - where voters can choose to vote in either party's primary election, regardless of how they are registered - should not be allowed. Lastly, she blamed Republican crossover voting for her losses in the 2002 primary and in the Aug. 8 primary runoff.
"How is it that I could win election and get kicked out, win election and get kicked out because Republicans can cross over and vote in the Democratic primary?" she said, according to AP. "If Republicans work that hard to get rid of me, I got to be doing something good for you."
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