Ohio Voter Suppression News

Well Well Well

2005-03-11T07:42:00.000-05:00

Christopher Hitchens is a well-known supporter of the Chimp and of the Mess in Mesopotamia. Guess what: he thinks the election in Ohio was stolen and writes about it in April's issue of Vanity Fair:

Here’s what happened in Gambier, Ohio, on decision day 2004.

The polls opened at 6:30 AM. There were only two voting machines (push-button direct-recording electronic systems) for the entire town of 2,200 (with students). The mayor, Kirk Emmert, had called the Board of Elections 10 days earlier, saying that the number of registered voters would require more than that. (He knew, as did many others, that hundreds of students had asked to register in Ohio because it was a critical “swing” state.) The mayor’s request was denied. Indeed, instead of there being extra capacity on Election Day, one of the only two machines chose to break down before lunchtime.

By the time the polls officially closed, at 7:30 that evening, the line of those waiting to vote was still way outside the Community Center and well into the parking lot. A federal judge thereupon ordered Knox County, in which Gambier is located, to comply with Ohio law, which grants the right to vote to those who have shown up in time. “Authority to Vote” cards were kindly distributed to those on line (voting is a right, not a privilege), but those on line needed more than that. By the time the 1,175 voters in the precinct had all cast their ballots, it was almost four in the morning, and many had had to wait for up to 11 hours.
...
Across the rest of Ohio, the Capra theme was not so noticeable. Reporters and eyewitnesses told of voters who had given up after humiliating or frustrating waits, and who often cited the unwillingness of their employers to accept voting as an excuse for lateness or absence. In some way or another, these bottlenecks had a tendency to occur in working-class and, shall we just say, nonwhite precincts. So did many disputes about “provisional” ballots, the sort that are handed out when a voter can prove his or her identity but not his or her registration at that polling place. These glitches might all be attributable to inefficiency or incompetence (though Gambier had higher turnouts and much shorter lines in 1992 and 1996). Inefficiency and incompetence could also explain the other oddities of the Ohio process—from machines that redirected votes from one column to the other to machines that recorded amazing tallies for unknown fringe candidates, to machines that apparently showed that voters who waited for a long time still somehow failed to register a vote at the top of the ticket for any candidate for the presidency of these United States.

However, for any of that last category of anomaly to be explained, one would need either a voter-verified paper trail of ballots that could be tested against the performance of the machines or a court order that would allow inspection of the machines themselves. The first of these does not exist, and the second has not yet been granted.
...
I am not any sort of statistician or technologist, and (like many Democrats in private) I did not think that John Kerry should have been president of any country at any time. But I have been reviewing books on history and politics all my life, making notes in the margin when I come across a wrong date, or any other factual blunder, or a missing point in the evidence. No book is ever free from this. But if all the mistakes and omissions occur in such a way as to be consistent, to support or attack only one position, then you give the author a lousy review. The Federal Election Commission, which has been a risible body for far too long, ought to make Ohio its business. The Diebold company, which also manufactures A.T.M.s, should not receive another dime until it can produce a voting system that is similarly reliable. And Americans should cease to be treated like serfs or extras when they present themselves to exercise their franchise.

It's a long and detailed article by a Bush supporter, and you need to read it (via).

Exit Polls

2005-02-02T08:08:00.000-05:00

Why, we may ask, were exit polls telling the truth in the recent election in the Ukraine, and just a statistical piece of fluff here in the US? It's well known that since the rise of electronic voting machines, exit polling, once a reliable way of figuring out the trend of an election, just stopped working. A particularly egregious case was visible in Georgia in 2002, when the Democratic candidates for governor and the senate - leading in the polls and leading in the exit polls - were suddenly revealed the day after to have lost.

Bushies, arguing that we should all shut up and learn to love fascism, have argued that the Ohio exit polls were just not accurate. A new study by statisticians says, crap.

Their paper titled "Response to Edison/Mitofsky Election System 2004 Report" notes that the Edison/Mitofsky report offers no evidence to support their conclusion that Kerry voters “participated in the exit polls at a higher rate than Bush voters”. In fact, the data provided in the Edison/Mitofsky report suggests that the opposite may have been true: Bush strongholds had slightly higher response rates than Kerry strongholds.

The statisticians' study is available online at: http://uscountvotes.org/ucvAnalysis/US/USCountVotes_Re_Mitofsky-Edison.pdf

The statisticians go on to note that precincts with hand-counted paper ballots showed no statistical discrepancy between the exit polls and the official results, but for other voting technologies, the overall discrepancy was far larger than the polls’ margin of error. (my emphasis) The pollsters at Edison/Mitofsky agreed that their 2004 exit polls, for whatever reason, had the poorest accuracy in at least twenty years.

Shut up and get with the program? I think not. (via)

More Fraud?

2005-01-28T07:52:00.001-05:00

Don't know how accurate this is at this late date, but here it is, for what it's worth:

Several volunteer workers in the Ohio recount in Clermont County, Ohio have prepared affidavits alleging serious tampering, violations of state and federal law and possible fraud. They name the Republican chief of Clermont's Board of Elections Daniel Bare and the head of the Clermont Democratic Party Priscilla O'Donnell as complicit in these acts.

These volunteers, observing the recount on behalf of the Greens, Libertarians and Democrats, assert that during the Dec. 14, 2004 hand recount they noticed stickers covering the Kerry/Edwards oval, whereas the Bush/Cheney oval seemed to be "colored in."

Some witnesses state that beneath the stickers, the Kerry/Edwards oval was selected. The opti-scan ballots were then fed into the machines after the hand recount.

Allegations of ballot tampering in Ohio - which decided the outcome of the presidential election by some 100,000 votes - find particular resonance in Clermont, one of three Ohio counties which saw the biggest increases in votes for Bush from 2000 to 2004. The other counties were Butler and Warren; Warren County had a lockdown after an alleged terror threat that the FBI later denied.

(via)

Backbone

2005-01-06T13:16:00.000-05:00

Amazing. Someone in the Senate has a backbone!

"I have concluded that objecting to the electoral votes from Ohio is the only immediate way to bring these issues to light by allowing you to have a two-hour debate to let the American people know the facts surrounding Ohio's election," Boxer wrote to U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio.

"I will therefore join you in your objection to the certification of Ohio's electoral votes."

It won't change anything but at least this time, unlike last time, someone is standing up.

Waaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh

2004-12-30T20:35:00.000-05:00

After two months of listening to smug cretins sneer "Get over it!" it's almost refreshing to watch Washington Repugs whine "We wanna new election!"

In a letter to Gregoire yesterday, Rossi said controversies surrounding their record-close election have left voter confidence badly shaken. He also said if she agreed to a revote, it would head off what could be months of bitter legal fighting that might ensue if he and the Republican Party decide to contest the latest of three ballot counts.

Whoever is sworn in as the next governor would be "shrouded in suspicion," Rossi said in his letter. He urged Gregoire to join him in asking the Legislature to call for a new election.

"A revote would be the best solution for the people of our state and would give us a legitimate governorship," he said.

Gregoire's spokesman Morton Brilliant said she would not be joining Rossi's call. "This ain't golf," he said. "No mulligans allowed here, folks."

It's just not fair! A Democrat won! Wahhhhhhh!

Just a faint taste of what would have happened had the election gone the other way here.

Rather than duplicate efforts . . .

2004-12-29T11:42:00.000-05:00

We want to refer readers to Georgia10 who is doing a bang-up job of tracking the various legal and political threads. Please check her diary often.

Paper Ballots

2004-12-23T16:51:00.000-05:00

Avedon Carol comes to the same conclusion I have. After listing a number of election, uh, "discrepencies," she says:

Forget these machines, people. Don't even waste breath on paper receipts. Paper ballots, hand-counted on the night in full public view. Nothing less will do.

If Australia can use paper ballots, hand-counted, there's no reason we can't.

Ohio Dec. 15th update -

2004-12-15T20:35:00.000-05:00

There have been developments on several fronts. Rather than repeat work that has already been done, and in the spirit of giving credit where credit is due, we refer you "georgia10's" diary at Kos.

Conyers refers Hocking Co. case to FBI

2004-12-15T11:44:00.000-05:00

Following hearings in Columbus Monday, Congressman John Conyers has sent a request to the FBI to investigate apparent tampering with the Hocking Co. Board of Election's voting equipment by the Triad Corp. The Ohio newspapers have been oddly silent on this, but the NY Times has the story here. The following is the text of Conyer's letter to the FBI. Thanks to truthout.org for this.

December 15, 2004

As part of the Democratic staff's investigation into irregularities in the 2004 election and following up on a lead provided to me by Green Party Presidential Candidate, David Cobb, I have learned that Sherole Eaton, a Deputy Director of Board of Elections in Hocking County, Ohio, has first hand knowledge of inappropriate and likely illegal election tampering in the Ohio presidential election in violation of federal and state law.

I have information that similar actions of this nature may be occurring in other counties in Ohio. I am therefore asking that you immediately investigate this alleged misconduct and that, among other things, you consider the immediate impoundment of election machinery to prevent any further tampering.

On December 13, my staff met with Ms. Eaton who explained to them that last Friday, December 10, Michael Barbian, Jr., a representative of Triad GSI unilaterally sought and obtained access to the voting machinery and records in Hocking County, Ohio, modified the computer tabulator, learned which precinct was planned to be the subject of the initial test recount and made further alterations based on that information, and advised the election officials how to manipulate the machinery so that the preliminary hand recount matched the machine count. Ms. Eaton first relayed this information to Green Party representatives, and then completed, signed and notarized an affidavit describing this course of events, a copy of which is attached.

The Triad official sought access to the voting machinery based on the apparent pretext that he wanted to review some "legal questions" the officials might receive as part of the recount process. At several times during this visit, Mr. Barbian telephoned into Triad's offices to obtain programming information relating to the machinery and the precinct in question. I have subsequently learned that Triad officials have been, or are in the process of intervening in several other counties in Ohio - Greene and Monroe, and perhaps others (see attached).

There are several important considerations you should be aware of with respect to this matter. First, this course of conduct would appear to violate several provisions of federal law, in addition to the constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process. 42 U.S.C. §1973 provides for criminal penalties against any person who, in any election for federal office, "knowingly and willfully deprives, defrauds, or attempts to defraud the residents of a State of a fair and impartially conducted election process, by . . . the procurement, casting, or tabulation of ballots that are known by the person to be materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent under the laws of the State in which the election is held." 42 U.S.C. § 1974 also requires the retention and preservation, for a period of twenty-two months from the date of a federal election, of all voting records and papers and makes it a felony for any person to "willfully steal, destroy, conceal, mutilate, or alter" any such record. Further, any tampering with ballots and/or election machinery would violate the constitutional rights of all citizens to vote and have their votes properly counted, as guaranteed by the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Second, the course of conduct would also appear to violate several provisions of Ohio law. No less than 4 provisions of the Ohio Revised Code make it a felony to tamper with or destroy election records or machines.1 Clearly, modifying election equipment in order to make sure that the hand count matches the machine count would appear to fall within these proscriptions.

Moreover, bringing in Triad officials into other Ohio Counties would also appear to violate Ohio Revised Code § 3505.32 which provides that during a period of official canvassing, all interaction with ballots must be "in the presence of all of the members of the board and any other persons who are entitled to witness the official canvass," given that last Friday, the Ohio Secretary of State has issued orders to the effect that election officials are to treat all election materials as if they were in a period of canvassing,2 and that "Teams of one Democrat and one Republican must be present with ballots at all times of processing."

Third, it is important to recognize that the companies implicated in the wrongdoing, Triad and its affiliates, are the leading suppliers of voting machines involving the counting of paper ballots and punch cards in the critical states of Ohio and Florida. Triad is controlled by the Rapp family, and its founder Tod A. Rapp has been a consistent contributor to Republican causes.4 A Triad affiliate, Psephos corporation, supplied the notorious butterfly ballot used in Palm Beach County, Florida, in the 2000 presidential election.

Sincerely,

John Conyers, Jr.

Groups seek OH Supreme Court review

2004-12-13T15:06:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, the Ohio Supreme Court will provide no relief. But for the record, via the New York Times:

Protesters Urge Delay for Ohio Electors
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 1:00 p.m. ET

Dissident groups asked the Ohio Supreme Court on Monday to review the outcome of the state's presidential race, hours before the Ohio delegation to the Electoral College was to cast ballots for president and vice president.

The groups question whether President Bush won the key swing state by 119,000 votes, guaranteeing his victory over Democrat John Kerry.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and attorney Cliff Arnebeck of the Massachusetts-based Alliance for Democracy accused President Bush's campaign of "high-tech vote stealing.'' Jackson said the challengers noticed Bush generally received more votes in counties that use optical-scan voting machines and questioned whether the machines were calibrated to record votes for Bush.

The dissidents claim there were disparities in vote totals for Democrats, too few voting machines in Democrat-leaning precincts, organized campaigns directing voters to the wrong polling place and confusion over the counting of provisional ballots by voters whose names did not appear in the records at polling places . . .

Kerry ups visibility with Ohio votes as recount begins

2004-12-13T07:36:00.000-05:00

As first reported Sunday by Laura Flanders/Air America, the Dispatch has more detail about Kerry's new involvement with the recount process:

Independent experts should check Ohio’s electronic voting machines during the recount of Nov. 2 results, an attorney for Sen. John Kerry said last night. "We’re not making any allegations. It’s simply about transparency in the process," election law expert Donald J. McTigue said.

McTigue, of Columbus, is faxing letters to Ohio’s 88 county elections boards designating witnesses for the Kerry-Edwards presidential campaign to attend recounts. In the letter, dated Friday, McTigue lists 11 requests for each county recount, including letting an independent observer check how machines, counting systems and scanners were calibrated and programmed.

Some of the other requests were:

• Selecting at random the precincts from which each county will take ballots for handcounting. The count must cover 3 percent of all punch-card and paper ballots used within the county.

• Letting witnesses see all 92,000 ballots where no vote for president was recorded.

• Allowing each presidential candidate to pick at least one precinct for a hand count, either separate from or part of the required 3 percent hand count.

• Counting any absentee ballots postmarked by Nov. 2 and received by Saturday.

McTigue faxed 14 letters this weekend to those counties where recounts begin today. The rest will be faxed today [. . . ]

McTigue said he doesn’t want to stop the Electoral College, saying that Kerry has said there’s no reason to believe a recount will change the outcome of the election. "With the historic level of participation and the number of people who voted, we feel a commitment to all of them. If there are any errors, their votes will be counted."

Respected OSU Moritz Law School and election law guru Daniel Tokaji, according the Plain Dealer, is downplaying the significance of the recount:

"The objective of revealing problems is laudable, but a recount isn't going to reveal those problems . . . It would be much better to focus attention on the real problems rather than having a recount, which isn't going to change anything."

The recount, for example, will not restore votes lost because of problems such as the shortage of machines that created long lines in some counties. It also will not fix complaints about how provisional ballots - given to voters whose names do not appear on voter-registration lists - were handled by poll workers and how they were counted.

Voters vs. Machines - A tale of two counties

2004-12-12T20:23:00.000-05:00

From a Kos diarist:

The voting machine allocation by precinct for Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) presents a very different picture than that of Franklin county (Columbus). In the latter case the inner city (Kerry) precincts were shorted at the expense of suburban (Bush) precincts

This easy-to-understand comparison is a "must read" for its simplicity.

House Judiciary Committee Moves to Columbus for Second Forum: Monday, December 13th, Columbus City Hall, 10:30 AM

2004-12-11T11:25:00.000-05:00

Congressman John Conyers, Jr.
Fourteenth District, Michigan
Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary
Dean, Congressional Black Caucus
http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/index.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT:
December 10, 2004 Dena Graziano (202) 226-6888

REP. CONYERS, WATERS, TUBBS JONES, STRICKLAND, ALONG WITH REV. JACKSON AND OHIO STATE SENATOR RAY MILLER, TO HOLD 2004 ELECTION FORUM

Rep. John Conyers, Jr, and other Representatives along with Rev. Jesse Jackson will be holding a congressional forum in Columbus concerning new evidence of election irregularities and fraud in Ohio, the issue of Ohio electors meeting while recounts and litigation are pending, and to discuss legislative and other responses to the problems.

WHAT: “2004 Election Forum”
WHEN: Monday, December 13th @ 10:30am
WHERE: Columbus City Hall, Columbus City Council Chambers, 90 West Broad Street, Columbus, OH
WHO: Rep. John Conyers, Jr.
Rep. Maxine Waters
Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones
Rep. Ted Strickland
Ohio State Senator Ray Miller
Rev. Jesse Jackson, Founder Rainbow Push Coalition
Prof. Robert Fitrakis, Editor, The Free Press
Cliff Arnebeck, Arnebeck Associates
John Bonifaz, General Counsel, National Voting Rights Institute
Gregory Moore, Executive Director, NAACP National Voter Fund
Councilwoman Charleta Tavares
Susan Truitt, Attorney, Co-founder of Citizens’ Alliance for Secure Elections

Resignations needed at Summit Co BOE, gamble fails

2004-12-11T11:01:00.000-05:00

Franklin Co. may have the most screwed up BOE, but the folks at the Summit Co. BOE have some leadership problems, too, according the Beacon Journal:

Since the 2000 presidential election, the Summit County Board of Elections has eliminated 149 of its precincts - more than any other Ohio county.

Why did Summit get rid of so many precincts -- nearly a quarter of the 624 it had in 2000?

Although the two Democrats on the board remember it differently, the answer given by Republicans, when the decision was made three years ago, was simple: to save money by reducing the need for increasingly hard-to-find poll workers.

The Republicans say they were betting that precincts could be consolidated without inconveniencing voters, thanks to more efficient electronic-voting machines that were expected to replace punch-card machines before this year's presidential election.

That gamble was lost when the statewide switchover in voting methods stalled amid fears that the new machines needed more safeguards against vote tampering.

The Democrats on the Board need to go, too when they display this kind of "understanding":

But both [Democratic board members Wayne Jones and Russell Pry] said they understood that the county had no choice but to reduce precincts. "We were under a mandate from the secretary of state to consolidate,'' Pry said.

But that's not true, said Carlo LoParo, spokesman for Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell. "There's no requirement for reductions.'' Ohio law states only that precincts should have fewer than 1,400 registered voters.

Dispatch confirms Franklin Co. surplus machine problems

2004-12-11T10:19:00.000-05:00

Even hack Mark Niquette (he shows his hack creditials with a lie in his lede that this story has "came to light just this week" despite Bob Fitrakis and others having put out the story at least 3 weeks ago) had to take notice of this. But we think it's still very significant when the Dispatch can confirm this stuff - especially when it is their headline story for the day.

Uh, by the way, isn't it past time that the entire (Dems and Repubs, alike) Franklin Co. BOE resign, along with the director and assistant director? When even Niquette, who is as averse as a reporter can be to suggesting someone is playing with the truth uses lines like "Still, questions remain about why all available machines were not sent to the polls and used as intended" and "He couldn’t explain why the wrong number was provided" the stink is pretty strong.

This was the same BOE that repeatedly denied that a) whether machines were held back, and b) that inner city precincts were treated differently than the suburban ones, and then went on to suggest its critics were lunatics. When even reporters of Niquette's calibre write that "several extra Franklin County voting machines earmarked for Columbus' inner-city polling places on Election Day never made it inside" it's beyond time for apologies. It's time to hit the road.

39 voting machines unused
17 never activated at inner-city precincts; officials not sure why

Saturday, December 11, 2004
Mark Niquette

In a development that came to light just this week, several extra Franklin County voting machines earmarked for Columbus’ inner-city polling places on Election Day never made it inside. Officials can’t say exactly why, but they suggest the polls may have been closed or poll workers told those delivering the machines that they could get along with the ones they had.

The machines were among a group of 99 originally kept in reserve for emergencies. County Elections Director Matthew Damschroder said that the day before the election, he ordered that all 99 be sent to precincts where long lines were expected. But 22 were left in the warehouse, and 17 of the 29 machines that officials tried to place on Election Day in inner-city precincts never were activated.

Damschroder said he learned the extent of the problem and other discrepancies this week — meaning officials have been giving the public wrong numbers on voting machines for the past 5½ weeks.

The issue of voting machines remains a hot topic because voters had waits of several hours at some polls. Some election critics also say precincts with predominantly Democratic or minority voters received too few machines while suburban areas didn’t.

Still, Damschroder noted the new information means that there were fewer unused machines than was thought, and he said none of the problems affect the election results. He promised an internal review and changes if necessary to "prevent us from having the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing."

Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell’s office also plans an administrative review, spokesman Carlo LoParo said. The state can make recommendations for improvements and, in cases where severe problems are found, place a county board under state administrative oversight, he said.

Thomas Rosenberg, a lawyer who helped monitor the election for the Kerry-Edwards campaign in Franklin County, called the revelations "disturbing" but said it’s too soon to jump to conclusions. "We hope that it is nothing more than human beings made errors of judgment for which all we can do is take steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again," he said.

Damschroder released a report after the election showing that the county had 2,798 machines placed in precincts by the time polls closed Nov. 2 and that 68 machines were kept in reserve in case there were problems. Critics questioned why so many voting devices went unused despite the heavy turnout.

But after a meeting this week with key staff members, it became clear that 2,818 machines were sent out and that only 22 reserve machines remained in the warehouse, Damschroder said. Damschroder said the discrepancies occurred because information from the board’s warehouse about the placement of machines wasn’t communicated with Downtown office staff members when he prepared his report.

Still, questions remain about why all available machines were not sent to the polls and used as intended.

Based on Dispatch interviews with Damschroder, a Republican, and Michael Hackett, a Democrat who is the board’s deputy director, here’s what officials say happened with the unused machines:

Franklin County kept 99 voting machines in reserve when the other machines were delivered before the election, in case there was a serious accident or a problem with a truckload. After all of the machines were safely delivered Nov. 1, Damschroder said he instructed staff members to send out all of the reserve machines.

A Democrat, the manager of election operations, makes the recommendations about where to place machines based on voter-registration totals, past voter turnout and sites where long lines are expected. But records show only 44 of the reserve machines were delivered Nov. 1, and an additional four machines were placed on Election Day.

When election officials called the county warehouse on the afternoon of Election Day to see whether other machines were available, they were told that only 29 machines were there — when there were actually 51, Damschroder said. He couldn’t explain why the wrong number was provided.

Workers then programmed counting cartridges for the 29 electronic machines to be sent to inner-city precincts. But 17 of those cartridges never were activated, meaning they were never used by voters, he said.

Damschroder acknowledged that the technicians hired to make repairs and deliver machines on Election Day said they tried to deliver all of the machines. In some cases, the polls were closed or workers said they weren’t needed. That means 39 available machines were not used for voting: 22 remained in the warehouse and 17 were never activated, officials said.

Damschroder has said that instead of using repair technicians to deliver voting machines on Election Day, the board will consider using the contractor that makes the bulk deliveries of machines before the election. That should allow machines to be placed more quickly, especially because it takes up to 90 minutes to program and prepare each machine for the ballot used in the specific precinct where it is sent.

Plain Dealer: Votes given to wrong candidates

2004-12-11T09:51:00.000-05:00

Friday's Plain Dealer continues controversy over misassigment of votes.

Odd vote results point to mix-ups at some precincts

Diane Solov and Diane Suchetka, Plain Dealer Reporters

The election results tabulated from the two precincts at Benedictine High School seemed off-kilter from the start. Had more than a third of the 1,000-plus voters at the East Side school really embraced the ideals of Michael Peroutka, the candidate of the Constitution Party, and Libertarian Party candidate Michael Badnarik? Could 215 people have voted for Peroutka in a precinct that delivered 299 votes for John Kerry? Did Badnarik win 164 votes to Kerry's 334 in the precinct that was in the same room?

At more than a dozen Cuyahoga County precincts - primarily on Cleveland's East Side - spikes in votes for the little-known third-party contenders shot up a flare that something went awry on Election Day. Together, Peroutka and Badnarik captured about 0.5 percent of the presidential vote across Cuyahoga County.

But a close look at the results highlights mistakes, not malice. Interviews and an examination of voting devices suggest the anomalies likely stem from errors by voters and poll workers that were amplified by confusion at polling places. Because most of the problems occurred in heavily Democratic Cleveland precincts, the errors seem to have cost votes for Kerry.

But the numbers appear small and the incidents relatively few. Of 1,458 precincts in Cuyahoga County, 17 show what appear to be aberrations, with one of the low-profile candidates garnering at least 4 percent of the votes. In all, 942 votes were cast for Peroutka and Badnarik in those precincts.

The stage for the mix-ups was set by a state law that requires candidates' names be rotated on ballots so that each candidate gets a turn at the top position. The rotation is done in the name of fair play, a nod to conventional wisdom that undecided voters tend to choose the name at the top. In Cuyahoga County, where punch-card voting machines are used, the names are rotated on the pages in voting books that guide voters to the proper position on the punch cards. There were five versions of the page for the presidential candidates. The first version lists the candidates' names alphabetically, with "Disqualified Candidate" taking the position of "N," because Ralph Nader was expected to be in that spot. In each subsequent version, the candidate at the top of the list moves to the bottom, bumping the rest up one notch.

Voters from multiple precincts typically share a polling place. Candidates' names in voting books are rotated by precinct, so there are different versions at the same polling place. Voters are supposed to use polling booths, and the voting books in them, that are specific to their precinct, not just any booth in the polling place.

The problem comes when a punch-card ballot for one precinct is inserted in the voting device for another precinct. Because of the name rotation, a voter unknowingly punches a hole for the wrong candidate. The punch cards that voters slide into the device are the same, but their backs are stamped with the precinct so they will be counted properly.

Voting book problems in the 17 precincts in question were easy to detect because the results for the third-party candidates were so atypical. Any mixed-book problems that may have scored extra votes for Kerry or President Bush are more difficult to detect because deviations from likely voter behavior are less obvious.

Michael Vu, Cuyahoga County's election director, said the errors don't reveal a systemic problem that plagued the election. But he said the circumstances surrounding the erroneous votes will be investigated, and that they drive home the need for more poll worker training and more fail-safe measures to account for the human factor. "We'll have to make the necessary changes so they won't occur again," Vu said. "There are lessons learned in the largest election that Cuyahoga County has ever conducted, and those issues will be addressed for future elections."

It's difficult to tell exactly what went wrong in the anomaly precincts. Vu said poll workers are trained not to share books of voting pages, and the devices that hold them, with other precincts. But there are clear signs that, in some cases, poll workers erred in setting up the polling stations or misdirected voters. And voters, who often stood in long lines in cramped quarters, may have grabbed any open booth they could find, unaware there was a difference. In some cases, a combination of both factors conspired to produce bad votes.

The biggest problems occurred at Benedictine, where Election Day got off to a rough start on that rainy morning five weeks ago. Poll workers were locked out of the building until just before the polls opened at 6:30 a.m., forcing them to rush to set up the voting devices in the school cafeteria and complete other preparations. "The fact that we couldn't get in at 6 to get ourselves properly set up, anything could have happened," said poll worker Marjorie Baxter.

Baxter recalled how hectic the day was and said she was so busy signing in voters that she didn't look up from her seat much. But she remembers poll workers trying their best to direct voters to the right place.

But Katie Daley, an observer for the Democratic Party who also spent the day at Benedictine, said voters waiting to cast their ballots formed a single line between the 4F and 4N precinct tables. They approached the booths, which were arranged in a semi-circle, as they became available, she said. "There was no distinction between precincts," Daley said. "Voters were being told to go to any machine that was open."

Daley herself told voters the same thing since she didn't know about the name rotation.

Other polling places reported similar problems.

Election Day melee is how Walter Gant described the scene at Cory United Methodist Church in Cleveland, where residents of precincts 8G, 8H and 8I voted on Nov. 2.

Gant was a Democratic observer who saw poll workers respond to long lines, crowded space and a broken machine by sending voters from one precinct to machines for another. "For about five hours we had a free fall over there where the guy who was over the polls allowed them to do that," Gant said. "A couple of us started to complain. We kept telling this guy you couldn't do this."

The poll worker told Gant he was helping people vote faster. The worker stopped the practice after calling the Board of Elections about 4 p.m., Gant said.

Long lines also plagued Mount Haven Baptist Church, where third-party candidates scored unusually high vote totals. Councilman Zack Reed said a group of about five or six unused voting booths eventually were put in service. Sara Woods, a Democratic observer, said that while some poll workers were trying to direct voters, they "didn't know which precinct and didn't know which machine to use."

Put an asterisk on that Lucas Co. total

2004-12-04T10:40:00.000-05:00

This piece in the Toledo Blade about turmoil and problems at the Lucas Co. Board of elections is one of those stories that says a lot but reveals nothing:

An extensive housecleaning in the Lucas County elections office was announced yesterday with Elections Director Paula Hicks-Hudson resigning and four other officials suspended pending investigation into problems with the official count of the Nov. 2 election.

The county, which certified its vote Wednesday, will have to amend its official certification with the state, in part because of an apparent failure of employees to properly do their jobs, board Chairman Bernadette Noe said.

There have been problems there for several years and the BOE has been under watch for several years. This is the second time the staff have been shaken up. Maybe time for the board members, too?

Dems ask Blackwell to respond

2004-12-03T10:29:00.000-05:00

From the Plain Dealer:

On Thursday, a group of Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee led by Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan wrote to Blackwell, asking him to respond to specific allegations of counting problems, spoiled ballots, provisional ballots and unusual results. In Cuyahoga County, the letter highlights a pattern in 10 Cleveland precincts where third-party candidates won hundreds of votes, an outcome the judiciary committee members deemed unlikely.

"Collectively, we are concerned that these complaints constitute a troubled portrait of a one-two punch that may well have altered and suppressed votes, particularly minority and Democratic votes," the letter said in part.

Arrests expected in voter fraud probe

2004-12-03T08:25:00.000-05:00

No one is saying where the finger of suspicion is pointing to on this controversy in Summit Co. and we have been a bit baffled by it.

Back in late September, the Plain Dealer provided these details:

[. . . ] In Summit County, meanwhile, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation has agreed to assist the Sheriff's Department in the examination of 803 suspect voter registration applications.

Bryan Williams, director of the Summit County Board of Elections, said high interest in this year's presidential election has resulted in unprecedented numbers of voter registrations, absentee ballot requests and irregular voter applications.

Williams said the suspect voter registration applications include some with nonexistent addresses while others from the same street all have the street identically misspelled.

Williams said that usually people applying to vote fill out their own cards before signing them, drawing attention to the odd fact that the street name is not spelled correctly.

Still other voter registration cards bear strikingly similar handwriting, suggesting one person submitted a group of fraudulent voter registration cards.

"We are not certified handwriting experts, but we believe that these were common looking signatures," Williams said.

The fact that someone(s) would have engaged in an organized effort using phony addresses and obviously faked signatures doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It would be a stupid way of trying to gin up extra voters. Maybe it makes sense if you are buzzed on out crack and/or getting paid per new registration.

The only other interesting possibility is that someone did it as a dirty trick to cast doubt on some of the aggressive voter registration campaigns that were going on. This would explain why the perps did it in such a way that they knew it would be discovered.

Our guess is that all sides and groups on the political specturm are holding their breath hoping that they are well-distanced from whoever is behind this.

However, the 12/2/04 Beacon Journal, indicate that the stakes have been raised:

Charges are expected in an ongoing probe of voter registration fraud in Summit County. Board of Elections Director Bryan Williams on Wednesday told board members he was given an update of the investigation from the county sheriff's office.

"They anticipate that arrests would be made,'' Williams said in the meeting.

The elections board forwarded more than 800 apparently fraudulent voter registration cards to the sheriff for investigation in August and September, when the cards returned to the elections board appeared to be suspicious. Many of the cards contained fake addresses or phony names, and many appeared to be in the same handwriting.

Summit County detectives have been working on a bi-county task force being led by the U.S. attorney's office in Cleveland and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification & Investigation.

The reference to the "bi-county" task force concerns a similar investigation going on in Lake Co.

Results in Ohio still contested

2004-12-03T08:18:00.000-05:00

From today's Beacon Journal:

As Ohio counties certified election results Wednesday, most showed that President Bush won the pivotal battleground state Nov. 2 and with it a second term. But the certifications didn't yet seal the results, and disgruntled groups alleging vote fraud plan to contest the state's results and demand a recount.

One coalition of disgruntled voters and interest groups plans to seek a recount. Another plans to file a lawsuit with the state Supreme Court today contesting Bush's victory.

Despite these challenges - and rampant charges on the Internet that Republicans stole the election for Bush in Ohio - there's still no proof of significant fraud, and there's no reason yet to think the election will be overturned. Consider:

• Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, who conceded Ohio and the election Nov. 3 after his aides concluded there was no reasonable chance for him to overturn Bush's margin there of 136,000 votes, refuses to join the challenges.

• A federal judge has blocked efforts to start a recount quickly.

• Any recount wouldn't start until Dec. 11. That would leave only about 24 hours to find enough invalid votes to reverse Bush's victory in Ohio before the state's presidential electors vote for him on Dec. 13, which would seal his re-election.

"We haven't seen any evidence to suggest that the outcome of the election would change,'' Kerry spokesman David Wade said. [ . . .]

One goal of a recount would be to examine 93,000 ballots that were spoiled or discarded for other reasons. "Without a recount, those won't get counted at all,'' Bobier said. Another would be to ensure that problems are detected and corrected before the elections in 2006.

The second track is the group that plans to challenge the election, which said it would file a lawsuit today with the state Supreme Court. The group includes 25 Ohio voters and is backed by a Massachusetts-based interest group, Alliance for Democracy.

Among their complaints: Kerry was outpolled in southern Ohio - a culturally conservative area - by a black female Democrat running for the state Supreme Court. The challengers say that's unlikely and reason that it means 70,000 votes were stolen from Kerry and given to Bush.

"In southern Ohio, there's no reason to believe a black female candidate would be outperforming Kerry,'' said Cliff Arnebeck, an attorney for the group. "It's a fix. Whether they had the computers rigged to do this, we'll find out.''

Tentative summary of other provisional results

2004-12-02T10:48:00.000-05:00

There are still preliminary numbers, but we expect them to stay roughly the same:

% of Provisionals/Late absentees/Precinct corrections for Bush: 43.62 %
% of Nov. 2 vote for Bush: 51.25%

% of Provisionals/Late absentees/Precinct corrections for Kerry: 56.38 %
% of Nov. 2 vote for Kerry: 48.75%

Change: 7.63% difference

# of counties where Bush improved his margin during provisional voting: 16
# of counties where Kerry improved his margin during provisional voting: 64
# of counties where Bush/Kerry matched their Nov. 2 margins: 8

# of counties where Bush won provisional voting: 63
# of counties Bush won Nov. 2: 72
# of counties where Kerry won provisional voting: 23
# of counties Kerry won Nov. 2: 16
# of counties where Bush/Kerry tied in provisional voting: 2

Summary of provisional ballots count - UPDATED 12/2/04

2004-12-02T10:19:00.000-05:00

Note: 88 of 88 counties have reported.

Current % of provisionals being counted: 79%
Please note: Several counties have not yet reported how many of their provisionals were counted.

Current "additional" vote count:
Bush +61,505
Kerry +79,482

Difference: Kerry+17,977

Allen Co:

According to elections officials, 1,098 provisional ballots were okayed out of 1,326 cast. The results are Bush +956, Kerry +661

Adams Co:

According to elections officials, 192 provisional ballots were okayed out of 258 cast. The results are Bush +173, Kerry +91

Allen Co:

Allen County has the region’s most provisional ballots, more than 1,300, and won’t certify its ballot until Dec. 1, the state-set deadline to do so. (Lima News)

Ashland Co:

According to elections officials, 522 provisional ballots were okayed out of 631 cast. The results are Bush +345, Kerry +210

Ashtabula Co:

"Voters with questionable addresses helped bring Ashtabula County’s provisional ballot count to an early halt Wednesday morning, Board of Election directors said. Acting on the advice of attorneys, including County Prosecutor Thomas Sartini, the board postponed the count to Nov. 29, said Richard Hornstein, director [. . . ]

At issue are questions surrounding the addresses of some people who voted with a provisional ballot. [. . .]

Upon receiving a provisional ballot, which contains the address of the voter, the election board sends a post card to the address to double-check residency. Since the election, more than 20 of the board’s post cards have been returned as undeliverable, Hornstein said. The board wants to know why the voters aren’t receiving mail at the addresses they put on their provisional ballots. “We’ve got to verify (residency),” said Art Vensel, election board deputy director.[. . .]

Originally, officials said 1,142 provisional ballots were received at the board office. Employees will recommend the board disallow 204 of those ballots for a lack of voter registration, vote signature or incorrect precinct, Hornstein said.

Brobst said he retain private counsel from Columbus to “make sure every vote is counted.” (Star Beacon)
According to elections officials, 943 provisional ballots were okayed out of 1,172 cast. The results are Bush +418, Kerry +516

Athens Co:

According to elections officials, 2,210 provisional ballots were okayed out of 2,541 cast. The results are Bush +935, Kerry +1,628

Auglaize Co:

According to elections officials, 573 provisional ballots were okayed out of 650 cast. The results are Bush +575, Kerry +171

Belmont Co:

According to elections officials, 617 provisional ballots were okayed out of 1,067 cast. The results are Bush +314, Kerry +318

Brown Co:

Comparing information posted 11/16/04 at the Brown Co. Board of Elections and the Ohio SOS website, the provisionals/late absentee changes are Bush +167, Kerry +82. According to elections officials, 247 provisional ballots were okayed out of 326 cast.

Butler Co:

On 11/16/04, Butler County started its review of 6,431 provisional ballots and 33 "overseas" absentee ballots. (Journal-News, 11/17/04)

According to elections officials, 4,760 provisional ballots were okayed out of 6,434 cast. The results are Bush +3,131, Kerry +2,049
Belmont County had an alarmingly high rejection rate - 42% - by far, the highest of all of the reported counties and nearly twice the average of other counties. The next closest county is apparently Lorain County with a rejection rate of 32%. The average of reported counties is a 22% rejection rate.

This ultra-high rejection rate deserves more investigation if for no other reason than it being such an an exception to the norm.

Carroll Co:

According to elections officials, 240 provisional ballots were okayed out of 301 cast. The results are Bush +164, Kerry +108

Champaign Co:

"The Champaign County Board of Elections said 514 provisional ballots were counted. . .
There were 41 provisional ballots not counted. . . " (Springfield News-Sun). Election officials report that the results were Bush +286, Kerry +215.

Clark Co:

Election officials reported that out of 1564 provisional, 405 were rejected. This number, however, conflicts with 1279 provisionals reported at the SOS website. The results are Bush +481, Kerry +679.

Clermont Co:

According to elections officials, 1,479 provisional ballots were okayed out of 1,840 cast. The results are Bush +1,252, Kerry +567. BOE officials had no explanation for why their Nov. 2 result numbers are not the same as those reported by the Sect. of State.

Clinton Co:

Comparing information posted 11/16/04 at the Clinton Co. Board of Elections to the Ohio SOS website, the provisionals/late absentee changes are Bush +313, Kerry +173. According to elections officials, 344 provisional ballots were okayed out of 375 cast.

Columbiana Co:

According to elections officials, 1,173 provisional ballots were counted but were surprisingly unable to report how many they started with. According to the Secretary of State's website, the county had 1,085 provisional ballots submitted, which makes the 1,173 number questionable. It may be possible that the 1,173 includes overseas absentee ballots, be we are unable to verify this and county officials claim they will not have additional information available. Oddly, the results are identical: Bush +542, Kerry +542.Elections officials were asked about the totals changing by the same amount for each candidate, but they stood by those numbers. Although statistically a long shot, this same phenomenon occurred in Lake Co.

Coshocton Co:

According to elections officials, 254 out of 269 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +156, Kerry + 115

Crawford Co:

According to elections officials, 380 out of 425 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush + 218, Kerry + 147

Cuyahoga Co:

"So far, about two-thirds of those votes have been deemed legitimate, but those numbers could change." (Plain Dealer)
"Cuyahoga County, where Cleveland is located, has processed 40 percent, or 9,719 votes, of its 24,788 provisional ballots and rejected a third, according to a board tally. Most are being rejected because the voters were not registered." (AP)
The Plain Dealer reported 11/23 that approximately 1/3 of the provisional ballots are being rejected.
According to elections officials, 16,058 out of 25,309 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +5,982, Kerry + 15,224. Note, the number of provisionals received is slightly higher than that used by the Plain Dealer (25,309 versus 25,302).

Darke Co:

According to elections officials, 642 out of 717 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +433, Kerry + 185

Defiance Co:

According to elections officials, 542 provisional ballots were okayed out of 672 cast. The results are Bush +385, Kerry +292

Delaware Co:

According to elections officials, 1,463 out of 1,879 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +905, Kerry + 551

Erie Co:

According to elections officials, 838 provisional ballots were okayed out of 972 cast. The results are Bush +583, Kerry +756

Fairfield Co:

According to elections officials, 1,117 provisional ballots were okayed out of 1,542 cast. The results are Bush +640, Kerry +453

Fayette Co:

According to elections officials, 249 provisional ballots were okayed out of 295 cast. The results are Bush +154, Kerry +90

Franklin Co:

According to information in the Dispatch and the SOS website, 12,109 provisional ballots were okayed out of 14,446 cast. The results are Bush +3,056, Kerry +9,427. Note: These total reportedly include the correction to the nearly 4,000 extra votes erroneously registered for Bush out of a Gahanna precinct.

Fulton Co:

According to elections officials, 324 provisional ballots were okayed out of 388 cast. The results are Bush +196, Kerry +126

Gallia Co:

According to elections officials, 376 provisional ballots were okayed out of 452 cast. The results are Bush +257, Kerry +176

Geauga Co:

". . . elections officials determined Tuesday that 77 of the 669 provisional ballots were not valid." (Plain Dealer, 11/17/04)
According to elections officials, 597 provisional ballots were okayed out of 669 cast. The results are Bush +401, Kerry +269

Greene Co:

According to elections officials, 1,766 out of 2,127 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +1,536, Kerry + 1,181

Guernsey Co:

According to elections officials, 511 provisional ballots were okayed out of 558 cast. The results are Bush +866, Kerry +696

Hamilton Co:

"Hamilton County has sorted through almost 13,000 of its [13,976] provisional ballots, Williams said. He hasn't totaled those rejected but said he expects 20 percent to 30 percent to ultimately be found invalid.

The elections staff expects to finish checking provisional ballots by Friday. Starting Monday, bipartisan teams will inspect each ballot for "pregnant'' and "hanging chads'' as well as torn ballots and other irregularities. Tuesday evening or Wednesday, the regular and provisional ballots will be fed through the punch-card-counting machine for the official count. The elections board will meet after Thanksgiving weekend to officially certify the ballot." (Enquirer, 11/17/04)
Based on stories in the Enquirer and Post, Hamilton County unofficially rejected about 3,000 of its 13,976 provisional ballots. The results are reportedly to be Bush +6,765, Kerry +8,543

Hancock Co:

"Elections workers received 848 provisional ballots - formerly called 'walk-in ballots' - but only officially counted 809, as 39 provisional voters who claimed to be registered were not . . . President Bush received a total of 756 more votes - both provisional and corrected 'overvotes' - pushing his vote total in Hancock County to 25,101 votes. Kerry received 413 more . . ." (Findlay Courier)

Hardin Co:

According to elections officials, 301 provisional ballots were okayed out of 342 cast. The results are Bush +249, Kerry +166

Harrison Co:

According to elections officials, 86 provisional ballots were okayed out of 89 cast. However, elections officials also say they had a problem with their Nov. 2 tally with an overcount of absentee ballots in at least one precinct. We know of no newspaper coverage of this problem. Therefore, even with the addition of the provisional ballots, Harrison County's numbers are less than its Nov. 2 numbers. The results are Bush -45, Kerry -45

Henry Co:

According to elections officials, 213 provisional ballots were okayed out of 249 cast. The results are Bush +131, Kerry +83

Highland Co:

According to elections officials, 404 provisional ballots were okayed out of 466 cast. The results are Bush +341, Kerry +182

Hocking Co:

According to elections officials, 216 provisional ballots were okayed out of 248 cast. The results are Bush +124, Kerry +108

Holmes Co:

According to elections officials, 165 provisional ballots were okayed out of 173 cast. The results are Bush +167, Kerry +73

Huron Co:

According to elections officials, 556 provisional ballots were okayed out of 670 cast. The results are Bush +281, Kerry +229

Jackson Co:

According to elections officials, 397 provisional ballots were okayed out of 447 cast. The results are Bush +203, Kerry +180

Jefferson Co:

According to elections officials, 618 provisional ballots were okayed out of 650 cast. The results are Bush +297, Kerry 345

Knox Co:

According to elections officials, 605 provisional ballots were okayed out of 679 cast. The results are Bush +404, Kerry +215

Lake Co:

According to elections officials, 1,813 provisional ballots were okayed out of 2,014 cast. The results are oddly identical: Bush +1578, Kerry +1,578. Elections officials were asked about the totals changing by the same amount for each candidate, but they stood by those numbers. Although statistically a long shot, this same phenomenon occurred in Columbiana Co.

Lawrence Co:

According to elections officials, 517 provisional ballots were okayed out of 601 cast. The results are Bush +279, Kerry 237

Licking Co:

According to elections officials, 1.321 provisional ballots were okayed out of 1,541 cast. The results are Bush +922, Kerry +701

Logan Co:

According to elections officials, 575 provisional ballots were okayed out of 651 cast. The results are Bush +387, Kerry +181

Lorain Co:

The Elyria Chronicle Telegram on 11/23 reported that, "About 1,264 of the 4,000 provisional and absentee ballots from the Nov. 2 election were rejected by the Lorain County Board of Elections on Monday. " Actually, the SOS website reports that Lorain County had 4,134 provisional ballots. That means the county had a fairly high rejection rate - 68%.

The reasons for rejecting the provisionals suggest further investigation should be conducted. For example, the story reports:
Of the 1,264 ballots rejected, 702 provisional ballots were thrown out for improper registration. That number also included those voters who had not cast a ballot since the 1992 presidential election.

The board also accepted a number of questionable absentee ballots, such as those in which voters made simple errors. Two absentee voters were provided military envelopes in error, for instance, while another voter made his selections on the voting booklet rather than the ballot.

Jacobcik said that a Democrat-Republican team would evaluate cases in which the board thought voter intent could be determined.

Other significant provisional and absentee ballots that the board rejected included:
• 160 voted in the wrong precinct
• 14 did not provide a new address
• 190 did not provide an old address
• 11 had cards returned by the post office
• 93 failed to sign ID envelopes
• 8 did not return ID cards
• 16 returned ballot cards without stubs
Clearly, a major portion of the referenced "702" is a little mysterious. Although it is stated that some of these are ballots cast by "inactive voters," that would be an extraordinarily high percentage. In nearly all other counties, the largest percentage of rejected provisionals is due to ballots cast in the wrong precinct. Here, however, these amounted to 160 and are apparently not part of the 702. Further, some of the reasons for rejection seem flimsy and other counties, e.g., Madison, have gone to special lengths to count every possible provisional ballot. If nothing else, this again raises the issue of the lack of specific, uniform and enforceable guidelines for the county BOEs to use to evaluate the provisionals.
Election officials have not released data on the number of provisional ballots counted, but the Elyria Chronicle Telegram reports that 3,048 out of 4,134 were counted. Election officials report that the results are Bush + 1,445, Kerry +2,453

Lucas Co:

"Of the 6,435 provisional ballots cast in Lucas County on Election Day, less than half - 3,124 - have been determined by elections officials to be valid." (Toledo Blade)
According to the Toledo Blade, the results of the count of the provisional ballots are Bush +1,701, Kerry +3,662

Madison Co:

Although elections officials have posted updated elections numbers, there still remains some problems with the count including at least one case where an elderly couple voted twice.
According to elections officials, 334 provisional ballots were okayed out of 392 cast. The results are Bush +189, Kerry +120

Mahoning Co:

According to elections officials, 2,351 provisional ballots were okayed out of an estimated 2,700 cast. The results are Bush +744, Kerry +1,569

Marion Co:

According to elections officials, 803 provisional ballots were okayed out of 898 cast. The results are Bush +442, Kerry + 438

Medina Co:

According to elections officials, 939 out of 1,266 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +684, Kerry + 539

Meigs Co:

According to elections officials, 225 out of 243 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +117, Kerry + 103

Mercer Co:

According to elections officials, 852 provisional ballots were okayed out of 931 cast. The results are Bush +624, Kerry +191

Miami Co:

Election officials haven't released data on how many provisionals were counted, but they report that the results are Bush +966, Kerry +572

Montgomery Co:

"In Montgomery County, 6,125 of the 8,000 provisional ballots processed so far are valid. Of the 1,875 invalid ballots, more than 1,000 were rejected because the people were not registered and 685 were rejected because voters went to the wrong precinct, according to the board. The board still has to count 1,227 ballots." (AP)
According to elections officials, 7,375 out of 9,257 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +3,645, Kerry + 4,715

Monroe Co:

According to elections officials, 130 provisional ballots were okayed out of 132 cast. The results are Bush +54, Kerry +77

Morgan Co:

According to elections officials, 130 provisional ballots were okayed out of 169 cast. The results are Bush +62, Kerry +63

Morrow Co:

According to elections officials, 284 provisional ballots were okayed out of 309 cast. The results are Bush +162, Kerry +124

Muskingum Co:

According to elections officials, 874 provisional ballots were okayed out of 874 cast. The results are Bush +350, Kerry +371

Noble Co:

According to elections officials, all of Noble Co.'s provisionals were counted Nov. 2 so there is no change to their numbers. Of the 75 provisionals in the county, 73 were deemed okay for voting.

Ottowa Co:

According to elections officials, 413 provisional ballots were okayed out of 472 cast. The results are Bush +255, Kerry +199

Paulding Co:

According to elections officials, 204 provisional ballots were okayed out of 234 cast. The results are Bush +131, Kerry +66

Perry Co:

According to elections officials, there were problems with the initial count reported to t he SOS office was in error because one precinct was counted twice. Officials say they later noticed that the precinct had a 127% turnout. So, even though the BOE counted 356 out of 431 provisional ballots, the results are only Bush +88, Kerry +52
The provisional ballot outcome deserves some further investigation given the other problems with this county's count. While Kerry gained 48% of the vote in the regular election, he only gained 37% of the provisional ballots. This 11% difference is by far the greatest shift and, although not impossible, it is highly improbable.

Pickaway Co:

According to elections officials, 425 provisional ballots were okayed out of 553 cast. The results are Bush +296, Kerry +190

Pike Co:

According to elections officials, 260 provisional ballots were okayed out of 285 cast. The results are Bush +134, Kerry +124

Portage Co:

According to elections officials, 1,284 provisional ballots were okayed out of 1,452 cast. The results are Bush +531, Kerry + 759

Preble Co:

According to elections officials, 333 provisional ballots were okayed out of 393 cast. The results are Bush +164, Kerry +108 Bush +221, Kerry +109

Putnam Co:

In Putnam County, the board has been verifying its 246 provisional ballots, will count them Monday and Tuesday [Nov. 15 & 16] and certify. (Lima News, 11/16/04
According to elections officials, 218 provisional ballots were okayed out of 246 cast. The results are Bush +174, Kerry +44

Richland Co:

"Tuesday, the board tallied 1,212 validated provisional ballots. On election day, 1,357 were cast, but 145 were ruled invalid when they were reviewed by the board last week. Of those, 28 were from voters registered in Richland County but casting votes in the wrong precinct, 92 were not registered in Richland County and 25 were not registered in another county as they claimed. The presidential vote on those provisional ballots reflected almost exactly the percentages of the general vote, with 610 favoring President Bush and 578 going for Sen. John Kerry. (News-Journal, 11/17/04)

Ross Co:

According to elections officials, 532 provisional ballots were okayed out of 569 cast. The results are Bush +289, Kerry +276

Sandusky Co:

According to elections officials, 541 provisional ballots were okayed out of 627 cast. Sandusky County, however, had a problem with duplicate vote counts such that their Nov. 2 numbers were in excess of the real numbers. After correcting this error and adding the provisional ballots, the final numbers actually decline. The results are Bush -1,629, Kerry -1,256

Scioto Co:

According to elections officials, 723 provisional ballots were okayed out of 887 cast. The results are Bush +319, Kerry +385

Seneca Co:

According to elections officials, 435 out of 494 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +261, Kerry + 188

Shelby Co:

According to elections officials, 577 provisional ballots were okayed out of 791 cast. The results are Bush +379, Kerry +197

Stark Co:

According to information at the Stark Co. BOE website, after the provisional ballots/late absentees were counted, the results are Bush +2,352 and Kerry +3,043

Summit Co:

"Director Bryan Williams said his staff has found that about 10 percent of the 5,932 provisional ballots in the county are invalid." (Plain Dealer)
"'It's still safe to say 90 percent or more of the provisionals cast will qualify for counting. Ten percent or less, based on what we're seeing, will be disqualified for one reason or another,' he said" (Beacon Journal)
"About 1,200 provisional ballots were rejected Tuesday by the Summit County Board of Elections, where much of a morning meeting was devoted to a separate debate about dimples and piercings." (Plain Dealer, 11/17/04)
Officials from the Summit County Board of Elections say it will be at least another day before they have a final tally of how many provisional ballots cast in the Nov. 2 election can be verified . . . Initial estimates are that about 20 percent -- roughly 1,200 votes -- won't be verified, mainly because they were cast by people who were not registered to vote. (Beacon Journal, 11/18/04)
According to the Plain Dealer and the Beacon Journal, the results of counting the provisional ballots are Bush +2,369, Kerry +3,681

Trumbull Co:

We have received further clarification. Now, according to elections officials, 2,033 provisional ballots were okayed out of 2,700 cast. The results are Bush +756, Kerry +1,352. Earlier officials had reported that only 1850 provo ballots had been validated.

Tuscarawas Co:

According to elections officials, 854 provisional ballots were okayed out of 987 cast. The results are Bush +466, Kerry +394

Union Co:

According to elections officials, 396 provisional ballots were okayed out of 440 cast. The results are Bush +276, Kerry +119

Van Wert Co:

According to elections officials, 272 provisional ballots were okayed out of 295 cast. The results are Bush +194, Kerry +68

Vinton Co:

According to elections officials, 97 out of 129 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +55, Kerry + 39

Warren Co:

2,200 (87%) of the 2527 provisional/absentee ballots were counted. County officials said 600 absentee ballots were late in arriving. 271 provisionals were excluded because the voters weren't registered and 56 weren't permitted because they were case in the wrong precinct. (Enquirer)
Comparing information posted 11/15/04 at the Warren Co. Board of Elections and the Ohio SOS website, the provisionals/late absentee changes are Bush +1,512, Kerry +644

Washington Co:

According to elections officials, 556 provisional ballots were okayed out of 643 cast. The results are Bush +451, Kerry +338

Wayne Co:

Comparing information posted 11/23/04 at the Wayne Co. Board of Elections and the Ohio SOS website, the provisionals/late absentee changes are Bush +446, Kerry +331. According to elections officials, 785 provisional ballots were okayed out of 889 cast.

Williams Co:

According to elections officials, 643 out of 697 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +407, Kerry + 250

Wood Co:

According to elections officials, 2,192 out of 2,661 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +1,018, Kerry + 1,185

Wyandot Co:

According to elections officials, 107 out of 138 provisional ballots were accepted. The results are Bush +300, Kerry + 153

Miscellaneous:

The Sect. of State's list of provisional ballots, by county, is located here, but has not been updated from Nov. 3.

Feds step into Summit Co. voter irregularities

2004-12-02T07:38:00.000-05:00

From the 12/2/04 Plain Dealer:

Summit County Sheriff Drew Alexander and election officials said in separate interviews that the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office in Cleveland have joined the sheriff's probe into hundreds of irregular, or questionable, new voter registrations that were turned into the board before the election. U.S. Attorney Greg White declined to comment Wednesday.

Open letter to Tim Russo

2004-12-02T01:03:00.000-05:00

Please see post here.

Welcome to the Ukraine!

2004-12-01T07:52:00.000-05:00

Juan Gonzales makes the uncomplimentary comparison of Ohio to the Ukraine in the New York Daily News today:

Voter fraud in the Ukraine? Give me a break.

It has been a month now and we still don't have a clear count of the votes for our own presidential race from the state of Ohio.

...

Within a few days, other problems began to show up in Ohio's preliminary tally.

We learned, for example, that an additional 93,000 voters had gone to the polls yet machines had registered no preference of theirs for President. Only a manual recount can tell us for sure what happened to those 93,000 ballots.

Then, red-faced election officials in Franklin County admitted a computer error on Election Night had tallied 4,258 votes for Bush in a precinct where only 638 people voted. That correction alone will drop Bush's margin by 3,620.

And now Daily News reporter Larry Cohler-Esses and I have uncovered some more unusual vote totals, this time in black neighborhoods of Cleveland. Those results are from the precinct-by-precinct tallies released by the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, where Cleveland is located.

In the 4th Ward on Cleveland's East Side, for example, two fringe presidential candidates did surprisingly well.

In precinct 4F, located at Benedictine High School on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Kerry received 290 votes, Bush 21 and Michael Peroutka, candidate of the ultra-conservative anti-immigrant Constitutional Party, an amazing 215 votes!

That many black votes for Peroutka is about as likely as all those Jewish votes for Buchanan in Florida's Palm Beach County in 2000.

In precinct 4N, also at Benedictine High School, the tally was Kerry 318, Bush 21, and Libertarian Party candidate Michael Badnarik 163.

Back in 2000, the combined third-party votes in those two precincts - including the Nader vote - was 8. Cuyahoga, like most of Ohio's 88 counties, uses punch-card balloting.

Yeesh. One thing's for sure, the election results are going to keep statisticians at work for years.