[North-NV-Greens] Fwd: [usgp-dx] Ohio recount endorsed by Nat'l Voting Rights Inst., Hamer Project, Common Cause, etc.

[Paul Etxeberri]

>
>
>http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/1115-13.htm
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>NOVEMBER 15, 2004
>3:03 PM
>
>CONTACT: Demos http://www.demos-usa.org
>Stuart Comstock-Gay or John Bonifaz, National
>Voting Rights Institute, 617-624-3900
>Tim Rusch, Demos, 212-389-1407; Miles Rapoport,
>Demos, 212-419-8760
>Peter Montgomery, People for the American Way
>Foundation, 202-467-4999
>Mary Boyle, Common Cause, 202-736-5770
>Carrie Bolton, Fannie Lou Hamer Project,
>919-542-4111 or 888-287-3547
>
>
>Statement of National Voting Rights Institute,
>Demos, People for the American Way Foundation,
>Common Cause, and the Fannie Lou Hamer Project in
>Support of the Ohio Recount and for Conserving
>Ballots and Examining Procedures Nationwide
>
>
>NEW YORK, NY -- November 15 -- As organizations
>deeply committed to full participation and the
>quality of American democracy, we support the
>decision by presidential candidates David Cobb
>and Michael Badnarik to request a recount of all
>votes cast in Ohio for president of the United
>States. It is not our expectation that a recount
>will change the outcome of the presidential
>election, nor is that the intent of this effort.
>We believe it is imperative that, in a democracy,
>every citizen's vote be counted.
>
>Moreover, we urge citizens and candidates to
>request recounts of any elections where doubt has
>been cast about the integrity of the counting,
>and we urge election officials in every state to
>preserve, protect, and maintain all ballots from
>the election, whether cast on machine, by
>absentee, or by provisional ballot. We further
>ask that they maintain all voter registration
>files, including all applications accepted and
>rejected, all records of resource allocation
>among precincts during the election, and all
>internal guidelines for evaluating all types of
>ballots.
>
>A recount in Ohio and a full examination of
>ballots and registrations in Ohio and elsewhere
>are not only necessary first steps to ensure that
>we have an accurate count. Such efforts will also
>help all Americans better understand what is
>working and what is not working in our elections
>system. With that information, we can pursue
>reforms that will ensure that the next election
>is less likely to face doubts.
>
>The questions in Ohio seem particularly
>troubling. Approximately 93,000 ballots have not
>been counted on the grounds that voters either
>voted for more than one presidential candidate or
>did not cast a vote in the presidential race.
>Ohio election officials are making determinations
>as to the eligibility of those who voted with
>provisional ballots and may be improperly
>disqualifying thousands of the 155,000
>provisional ballots that have been cast. Ohio
>election officials are engaged in a similar
>process with overseas absentee ballots.
>
>In addition, on Election Day, thousands of Ohio
>citizens reported difficulties and barriers in
>casting their vote. These reports included: lines
>into the hours at polling places, creating an
>undue burden on voters and discouraging many from
>voting; shortages of poll workers and machines;
>electronic voting machines which malfunctioned,
>with voting screens displaying a vote for a
>candidate which had not been cast; voters being
>required to show identification even though they
>were not first-time mail-in registrants;
>erroneous purges of voters from the voter rolls;
>voters who requested absentee ballots but never
>received them and were nevertheless barred from
>voting in person. In one precinct in Franklin
>County, Ohio, an electronic voting system gave
>George W. Bush 3,893 extra votes out of a total
>of 638 votes cast.
>
>Every voter throughout the country needs to know
>that every effort has been made to count his or
>her vote, and this nation needs to understand
>exactly what procedural issues have been raised
>by the vote this year. A recount of all votes
>cast and an examination of all procedures used in
>Ohio will allow the nation to produce a full and
>detailed accounting of the election in that
>state, and will help lead the way for needed
>reforms to safeguard our elections in the future.
>While such efforts will not address all of the
>irregularities and potential voting rights
>violations which occurred in Ohio and elsewhere
>on Election Day, it will give us a full
>understanding of what else needs to be done so
>that we will have an election system of which
>this nation can be truly proud. Continuing to
>improve our election procedures will aid the work
>of restoring the people's trust in our democratic
>process. Without such trust, our democracy is in
>crisis.
>
>
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>
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>
>
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-- 
Paul Etxeberri

"Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow"   ---Chateaubriand