Following the US midterm elections, there is only one positive trend: voting irregularities have become mainstream news. Faulty or manipulated voting computers, illegal turning down of voters, lost votes etc. are no longer only news for the blogging fringe. Even on CNN every third election report is about stuff that should not happen in a honest election. I guess this is only the tip of the iceberg. If you want a nice breakdown of the usual methods of election manipulation in the US, go to Greg Palast , one of the few real investigative reporters left.