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· Noteworthy topics from the DU Discussion Forums · Kerry
Margins: Paper-ballot and Non-paper ballot states... Truth: Discuss this topic (129 responses) House
Judiciary Committee letter to GAO regarding voting
machines
November 5, 2004
The Honorable David M. Walker Comptroller General of the United States U.S. General Accountability Office 441 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20548 Dear Mr. Walker: We write with an urgent request that the Government Accountability Office immediately undertake an investigation of the efficacy of voting machines and new technologies used in the 2004 election, how election officials responded to difficulties they encountered and what we can do in the future to improve our election systems and administration. In particular, we are extremely troubled by the following reports, which we would also request that you review and evaluate for us: In Columbus, Ohio, an electronic voting system gave President Bush nearly 4,000 extra votes. "Machine Error Gives Bush Extra Ohio Votes," Associated Press, November 5. An electronic tally of a South Florida gambling ballot initiative failed to record thousands of votes. "South Florida OKs Slot Machines Proposal," Id. In one North Carolina county, more than 4,500 votes were lost because officials mistakenly believed a computer that stored ballots could hold more data that it did. "Machine Error Gives Bush Extra Ohio Votes," Id. In San Francisco, a glitch occurred with voting machines software that resulted in some votes being left uncounted. Id. In Florida, there was a substantial drop off in Democratic votes in proportion to voter registration in counties utilizing optical scan machines that was apparently not present in counties using other mechanisms. http://ustogether.org/election04/florida_vote_patt.htm The House Judiciary Committee Democratic staff has received numerous reports from Youngstown, Ohio that voters who attempted to cast a vote for John Kerry on electronic voting machines saw that their votes were instead recorded as votes for George W. Bush. In South Florida, Congressman Wexler's staff received numerous reports from voters in Palm Beach, Broward and Dade Counties that they attempted to select John Kerry but George Bush appeared on the screen. CNN has reported that a dozen voters in six states, particularly Democrats in Florida, reported similar problems. This was among over one thousand such problems reported. "Touchscreen Voting Problems Reported," Associated Press, November 5. Excessively long lines were a frequent problem throughout the nation in Democratic precincts, particularly in Florida and Ohio. In one Ohio voting precinct serving students from Kenyon College, some voters were required to wait more than eight hours to vote. "All Eyes on Ohio," Dan Lothian, CNN, November 3, http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/blog/1...blog/index.htm .. We are literally receiving additional reports every minute and will transmit additional information as it comes available. The essence of democracy is the confidence of the electorate in the accuracy of voting methods and the fairness of voting procedures. In 2000, that confidence suffered terribly, and we fear that such a blow to our democracy may have occurred in 2004. Thank you for your prompt attention to this inquiry. Sincerely, John Conyers, Jr. / Jerrold Nadler / Robert Wexler Ranking Member / Ranking Member / Member of Congress House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution cc: Hon. F. James Sensenbrenner Chairman Discuss this topic (83 responses) Voting
Group Finds Irregularities in South
ATLANTA (AP) - A national voting rights group says it
documented hundreds of voting irregularities affecting poor and minority
voters in seven Southern states - from long lines and faulty equipment to
deliberate voter intimidation.
More... http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=ne-main-9-l1&flok=FF-APO-1110&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20041105%2F1517861083.htm&sc=1110 Discuss this topic (16 responses) CBS
News Commentary: Moral Values Malarkey
Let's try to snuff this election's new Big Theory
before it becomes Conventional Wisdom, although it's probably too late.
The subject matter is "moral values." The theory is this: Kerry lost because he was very unpopular with people who believe moral values are the most important issues. This group of values voters is growing and Democrats are doomed until they can win them over. (snip) While the nexus of issues boiled into the words "moral values" certainly were a big factor in this election, it's being exaggerated partly because of the oddities of the poll itself and partly because the Big Theory conforms with what Republican strategists want you to believe. First, the poll: If the poll had been worded or constructed only slightly differently, moral values would not have been the top issue. We’re building a worldview out of a small, odd vista. (snip) If you want to see a polling hurricane, consider that "terrorism" has never been any kind of concern before. That’s a sea change. No foreign policy or national security has gotten into the top four issues in the last three elections. This year, as we saw, terror and Iraq were the prime issues for more than a third of the voters. more... http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/05/opinion/meyer/main653931.shtml Discuss this topic (104 responses) Palm
Beach County Logs 88,000 More Votes Than Voters
According to the official election results posted on
the Palm Beach County election website, 542,835 ballots were cast for a
presidential candidate while only 454,427 voters turned out for the
election (including absentee). This leaves a discrepancy of 88,408 votes
cast for the presidential candidates. Palm Beach County's supervisor of elections is Theresa LePore who is known for the 2000 Presidential Election and the notorious "butterfly ballot" that caused confusion among seniors and other Floridians. Other election oddities occurred throughout Florida with some counties registering a 400% increase in expected voter turnout among Republicans while Democrats supposedly experienced a -60% decline in expected support in certain counties. The 50+ counties experiencing the high percentage fluctuations in expected turnout used optical scan voting machines on November 2nd. More... http://www.washingtondispatch.com/spectrum/archives/000715.html Discuss this topic (130 responses) Warren's
Vote Tally Walled Off (Cites homeland security)
LEBANON - Citing concerns about potential terrorism,
Warren County officials locked down the county administration building on
election night and blocked anyone from observing the vote count as the
nation awaited Ohio's returns.
County officials say they took the action Tuesday night for homeland security, although state elections officials said they didn't know of any other Ohio county that closed off its elections board. Media organizations protested, saying it violated the law and the public's rights. The Warren results, delayed for hours because of long lines that extended voting past the scheduled close of polls, were part of the last tallies that helped clinch President Bush's re-election. ... Commissioners made the security decisions in a closed-door meeting last week, but didn't publicize the restrictions that were made until after polls closed. More... http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/11/05/loc_warrenvote05.html Discuss this topic (92 responses) Machine
Error Gives Bush Extra Ohio Votes
COLUMBUS, Ohio - An error with an electronic voting
system gave President Bush 3,893 extra votes in suburban Columbus,
elections officials said.
Franklin County's unofficial results had Bush receiving 4,258 votes to Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites)'s 260 votes in a precinct in Gahanna. Records show only 638 voters cast ballots in that precinct. More... http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041105/ap_on_el_pr/voting_problems_4 Discuss this topic ( responses) Broward
machines count backward
FORT LAUDERDALE — It had to happen. Things were just
going too smoothly.
Early Thursday, as Broward County elections officials wrapped up after a long day of canvassing votes, something unusual caught their eye. Tallies should go up as more votes are counted. That's simple math. But in some races, the numbers had gone . . . down. Officials found the software used in Broward can handle only 32,000 votes per precinct. After that, the system starts counting backward. Why a voting system would be designed to count backward was a mystery to Broward County Mayor Ilene Lieberman. She was on the phone late Wednesday with Omaha-based Elections Systems and Software. more... http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/news/epaper/2004/11/05/a29a_BROWVOTE_1105.html Discuss this topic (10 responses) www.sorryeverybody.com Have you seen this? Discuss this topic (44 responses) Computer
glitch still baffles county clerk (affects Dem county in
Indiana)
The day after a two-and-a-half-hour delay in counting
ballots due to a glitch in a computer program, LaPorte County election
officials are still trying to figure out what happened.
"Maybe there was a power surge," LaPorte County Clerk Lynne Spevak said. "Something zapped it." At about 7 p.m. Tuesday, it was noticed that the first two or three printouts from individual precinct reports all listed an identical number of voters. Each precinct was listed as having 300 registered voters. That means the total number of voters for the county would be 22,200, although there are actually more than 79,000 registered voters. More... http://www.michigancityin.com/articles/2004/11/04/news/news02.txt Discuss this topic (13 responses) 17
Reasons Not to Slit Your Wrists...by Michael Moore
Dear Friends,
Ok, it sucks. Really sucks. But before you go and cash it all in, let's, in the words of Monty Python, “always look on the bright side of life!” There IS some good news from Tuesday's election. Here are 17 reasons not to slit your wrists: 1. It is against the law for George W. Bush to run for president again. 2. Bush's victory was the NARROWEST win for a sitting president since Woodrow Wilson in 1916. More... http://www.michaelmoore.com/ Discuss this topic (29 responses) Election
problems due to a software glitch (11,283 x-tra for Bush in N.C
)
A systems software glitch in Craven County's electronic
voting equipment is being blamed for a vote miscount that, when corrected,
changed the outcome of at least one race in Tuesday's
election.
Then, in the rush to make right the miscalculation that swelled the number of votes for president here by 11,283 more votes than the total number cast, a human mistake further delayed accurate totals for the 40,534 who voted. More... http://www.newbernsj.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTemplates/Details.cfm&StoryID=18297&Section=Local Discuss this topic (71 responses)
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