Down for the Count ─ Dirty Elections and the Rotten History of Democracy in America

Down for the Count explores in an accessible, engaging style the tawdry continuing history of votes bought, stolen, suppressed, lost, miscounted, thrown into rivers, and litigated up to the Supreme Court in the world’s most powerful democracy. First published to great acclaim and controversy in 2005 as Steal this Vote, this thoroughly revised edition lifts the lid off the largely undiscussed corruption at the core of our democracyelections so poorly regulated and administered they fall short of standards the United States routinely imposes on emerging democracies. The problem has only grown worse in the last decade, as campaign spending has gone hog wild, partisan battles rage over voter ID, and a key provision of the Voting Rights Act has been shredded. As award-winning journalist Andrew Gumbel shows, we need proper oversight and regulation of elections, reliable voting machines, and a keener understanding of where private interests infringe on the public good.

Now that Citizens United, super PACs, and the Koch brothers have turned the electoral process into an increasingly squalid lottery for billionaires, there is no better time for Gumbel’s revision of his acclaimed book.

Andrew Gumbel is a British-born journalist who has worked as an award-winning investigative reporter, a political columnist, and a foreign correspondent for publications includingThe Guardian, The Independent, Los Angeles Times, The Nation andThe Atlantic. He is the author of several books, including Oklahoma City: What The Investigation MissedAnd Why It Still Matters. He lives in Santa Monica.