OPINION:
One line of logic being slung by the scoffers of President Donald Trump’s election challenges goes like this: that’s conspiracy talk. Stuff and nonsense; sour grapes. All fluff and no substance — particularly the part about the Dominion voting system and its ripeness for the fraudsters’ pickings.
But Texas rejected the very Dominion software that’s at the heart of attorney Sidney Powell’s investigation into ballot-counting fraud. Three times. And Texas rejected the software over concerns, in part, about the potential for — get this — fraud.
Isn’t that at least a little bit interesting to the scoffers?
Or, put it this way: Shouldn’t it be at least a little bit interesting?
“Texas Rejected Use of Dominion Voting System Software Due to Efficiency Issues,” The Texan wrote just a few days ago.
Peer past the headline and it’s revealed that Texas also rejected use of the system because of concerns over the potential for fraud and “unauthorized manipulation.”
Like the stuff of Sidney Powell’s allegations — that what voters put into the system by way of ballot choices weren’t exactly what came out of the system by way of ballot choices.
The Texas Deputy Secretary of State, Jose Esparza, in January, wrote this of Dominion’s software in a “Democracy Suite 5.5-A” report: “Specifically, the examiner reports raise concerns about whether the Democracy Suite 5.5-! System is suitable for its intended purpose; operates efficiently and accurately; and is safe from fraudulent or unauthorized manipulation.”
More than that, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton underscored those concerns on a radio show in mid-November.
“Texas looked at Dominion for the voting systems,” Paxton said, to WBAP 820, Breitbart reported. “It goes through the Texas secretary of state and also the Texas attorney general’s office. We have had these things tested and they have failed every time. We have not approved these voting systems based on repeated software and hardware issues. It was determined they were not accurate and that they failed — they had a vulnerability to fraud and unauthorized manipulation.”
Georgia and Michigan both experienced errors tied to Dominion voting products — errors that were caught and rectified. What of the counties and states that didn’t catch them?
The larger point is this: Powell is under attack for her allegations of election fraud.
Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani is under attack for his allegations of election fraud.
Trump is under attack for his allegations of election fraud.
And all are being mocked and scorned and derided and dismissed as conspiracy theorists for daring to suggest the Dominion voting systems were rigged and hijacked to push Joe Biden into the White House.
But two facts shine bright — one, that for Democrats, the ends always justify the means, even if those means are less than honest, less than ethical, less than principled, and two, Texas reviewed Dominion systems in August 2012, January 2019 and October 2019 and found on all three occasions cause for concern.
“Both during and after the examination,” wrote Ryan Vassar, general counsel with the Office of the Attorney General, according to The Texan’s reporting, “the examiners raised specific concerns about legal compliance, including numerous technical and mechanical issues.”
Chew on that for a while.
It’s more conspiratorial to dismiss concerns over Dominion’s voting machines than not.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE.
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