tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926451.post-1102942892358517352004-12-13T07:36:00.000-05:002004-12-13T08:01:32.356-05:00As first reported Sunday by <a href="http://www.airamericaradio.com/shows/lauraflanders/">Laura Flanders/Air America</a>, the Dispatch has <a href="http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2004/12/13/20041213-A4-00.html">more detail </a>about Kerry's new involvement with the recount process: <br /><blockquote>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. <br /> <br />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. <br /> <br />Some of the other requests were: <br /> <br />• 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. <br /> <br />• Letting witnesses see all 92,000 ballots where no vote for president was recorded. <br /> <br /> • 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. <br /> <br />• Counting any absentee ballots postmarked by Nov. 2 and received by Saturday. <br /> <br />McTigue faxed 14 letters this weekend to those counties where recounts begin today. The rest will be faxed today [. . . ] <br /> <br />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."</blockquote> Respected OSU Moritz Law School and election law guru Daniel Tokaji, according the <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/110293395930380.xml">Plain Dealer</a>, is downplaying the significance of the recount: <br /><blockquote> "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." <br /> <br /> 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.</blockquote> <br />HypoSpeakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10165150455703179380noreply@blogger.com