poll rage in PA

["Margit Johansson" <margitjo@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-
b3_5young.5966949jul26,0,2622582.story

Man sentenced for bashing voting machine
'I was obligated to destroy it…' Allentown resident tells judge.

By Debbie Garlicki | Of The Morning Call
 July 26, 2007


An Allentown man who smashed an electronic voting machine because he
didn't trust it and believed that election results could be altered was
convicted Wednesday of summary offenses of disorderly conduct and
criminal mischief.

 After a Lehigh County nonjury trial, Michael C. Young, who represented
himself, was sentenced to 180 days of probation and was ordered to pay
$2,910 for replacement of the touch-screen machine.

 Young, 43, of 375 Auburn St., admitted that he went to a polling place
at the Good Shepherd Home at Sixth and St. John streets, Allentown, on
Nov. 7. He testified that he struck the screen of a
Diebold-manufactured machine four times with a small figurine.

''I was obligated to destroy it to the best of my ability,'' Young told
Judge William E. Ford.

 As a condition of probation, Young was ordered not to vote at that
polling place. Ford said a probation officer will make arrangements
with the county election office to have Young vote by absentee ballot.

 Young said his actions were prompted by an Oct. 6, 2006, article in
Rolling Stone magazine that addressed problems with electronic voting
machines and gave examples of inaccuracies in results.

 Young entered the article as an exhibit for the defense. Ford scanned
the article and summarized it for the record.

 Allentown Patrolman Edward Zucal testified that Young said that using
electronic voting machines was a way for Republicans to alter the
outcome of elections to overthrow Democrats. Young thought Diebold
machines in particular had been programmed to commit voting fraud by
Republicans, the police officer said.

 Zucal said Young asked him to seize the machine and remove the memory
card so that votes could not be counted.

 The judge noted that the Rolling Stone article contained no references
to party conspiracies.

 Young testified that he thought other people might destroy machines.
He said he feared that he would read the next day that ''the nation had
risen'' and he had not been a part of that.

 Young came to court with a suitcase full of documents and thick
binders. He spread papers across the defense table and often referred
to them while he was cross-examining witnesses.

 Earlier in the week, he had been represented by lawyer James Katz and
faced misdemeanor charges of tampering with voting machines and
criminal mischief. Young insisted that he wanted a jury trial.

 Katz asked to withdraw from the case, and Ford allowed that.

 On Wednesday, Senior Deputy District Attorney Diane Marakovits said
she wanted to drop the misdemeanors and amend the formal charges to
summary offenses. Defendants are not entitled to jury trials for
summary offenses.

 Young protested that he thought a jury should hear the case and that
the situation was ''much more substantial.''

 ''I have my opinions,'' Young said, adding they are serious ones.

 Ford allowed the prosecution to amend the charges and proceed with a
nonjury trial.

 The judge cautioned Young before the trial that the courtroom was not
a place for debate. ''This is not a forum for people to come and sound
off,'' Ford said.

 The judge told Young that his political views on the election system
and the political landscape in America weren't relevant to the trial.
''Did you do the act or not? That is what this boils down to,'' Ford
said.

 The damaged machine, which is the property of the Lehigh County Voter
Registration Office, has not been repaired. Stacy Sterner, chief clerk
of the county Board of Elections, said the machine has to be replaced
because a machine that has been tampered with or damaged can only be
used for demonstrations.

 Ford found that there was no justification for what Young did.

 ''Will you ever do something like this again on Election Day?'' Ford
asked Young at the close of the hearing.

 Young replied, ''I don't know.''

 Ford told Young that he doesn't doubt that Young is sincere in his
beliefs. However, the judge advised him to use legal means next time to
express his beliefs and to try to change laws.

 If Young violates his probation, it will mean jail, the judge said.

debbie.garlicki@xxxxxxxxx

 610-820-6764