June 22, 2005
(Washington, DC) – Congresswoman Barbara Lee welcomed the release today of a report on voting irregularities in Ohio during the 2004 Presidential elections and called for the implementation of measures to improve voting procedures and restore voters’ confidence in the electoral process.
“This report on voting irregularities highlights grave problems that have plagued our voting process, both in Ohio and around the nation” said Lee. “Congress has a responsibility to take action to fix these problems and begin to restore voters’ confidence in our democracy.”
The exhaustive five-month investigative study investigationof the troubled presidential election of 2004 in Ohio, conducted by the Democratic National Committee’s Voting Rights Institute, concluded that the state’s voters encountered widespread system failure, with more than a quarter of voters - and 52% of African Americans - reporting significant problems at the polls.
According to the report, which was released at a news conference on Capitol Hill today, the systemic problems plaguing Ohio’s voting process included: significant evidence of voter suppression, (we need to be prepared with examples of suppression documented by the report)negligent and poorly trained election officials, long lines, problems with registration status, polling locations, absentee ballots and provisional ballots and unlawful ID identification requirements at the polls.
More than one in four %Ohio voters reported problems with voting, including ballot issues, and/or intimidation at the polling place. Identification requirements were improperly administered across Ohio, but young and African American voters were disproportionately affected. African American voters reported waiting an average of 51.8 52 minutes before voting, while voters overall reported waiting only 17.918 minutes. Nearly a quarter of Ohio voters report that their experience in 2004 has made them less confident about the reliability of elections in Ohio.
The report offers 2023 recommendations for improving election administration across the nation. The proposed election reforms include: state codification of practices to ensure nondiscriminatory access to sufficient numbers of voting machines; adoption of legislation to establish clear and uniform standards? for voter registration; the creation and implementation of statewide voter lists – what does this mean – do you mean creation of statewide voter lists – that has to happen before implementation ; making voter suppression a criminal offense in all 50 states; requiring voting equipment vendors to make their source code publicly available for review by third parties; and the elimination of partisan election officials. The report also recommends that ‘touch screen’ voting machines not be used without verifiable paper trails, and advocates the use of precinct-tabulated optically scanned paper ballots that give each voter a chance to correct errors on the ballot.
“This isn’t about challenging the results of the election, it’s about making sure our democracy works,” said Lee. “This report establishes a solid factual foundation on which a comprehensive agenda of reforms can be built so that we can ensure that every eligible voter has the opportunity to vote and to have that vote counted.”
The full report is available online at: http://www.democrats.org/vri/ohioreport/index.html
###
Barbara Lee Hails Report on Ohio Voting Problems
Says Reform is Essential to Restore Confidence in Democracy
(Washington, DC) – Congresswoman Barbara Lee welcomed the release today of a report on voting irregularities in Ohio during the 2004 Presidential elections and called for the implementation of measures to improve voting procedures and restore voters’ confidence in the electoral process.
“This report on voting irregularities highlights grave problems that have plagued our voting process, both in Ohio and around the nation” said Lee. “Congress has a responsibility to take action to fix these problems and begin to restore voters’ confidence in our democracy.”
The exhaustive five-month investigative study investigationof the troubled presidential election of 2004 in Ohio, conducted by the Democratic National Committee’s Voting Rights Institute, concluded that the state’s voters encountered widespread system failure, with more than a quarter of voters - and 52% of African Americans - reporting significant problems at the polls.
According to the report, which was released at a news conference on Capitol Hill today, the systemic problems plaguing Ohio’s voting process included: significant evidence of voter suppression, (we need to be prepared with examples of suppression documented by the report)negligent and poorly trained election officials, long lines, problems with registration status, polling locations, absentee ballots and provisional ballots and unlawful ID identification requirements at the polls.
More than one in four %Ohio voters reported problems with voting, including ballot issues, and/or intimidation at the polling place. Identification requirements were improperly administered across Ohio, but young and African American voters were disproportionately affected. African American voters reported waiting an average of 51.8 52 minutes before voting, while voters overall reported waiting only 17.918 minutes. Nearly a quarter of Ohio voters report that their experience in 2004 has made them less confident about the reliability of elections in Ohio.
The report offers 2023 recommendations for improving election administration across the nation. The proposed election reforms include: state codification of practices to ensure nondiscriminatory access to sufficient numbers of voting machines; adoption of legislation to establish clear and uniform standards? for voter registration; the creation and implementation of statewide voter lists – what does this mean – do you mean creation of statewide voter lists – that has to happen before implementation ; making voter suppression a criminal offense in all 50 states; requiring voting equipment vendors to make their source code publicly available for review by third parties; and the elimination of partisan election officials. The report also recommends that ‘touch screen’ voting machines not be used without verifiable paper trails, and advocates the use of precinct-tabulated optically scanned paper ballots that give each voter a chance to correct errors on the ballot.
“This isn’t about challenging the results of the election, it’s about making sure our democracy works,” said Lee. “This report establishes a solid factual foundation on which a comprehensive agenda of reforms can be built so that we can ensure that every eligible voter has the opportunity to vote and to have that vote counted.”
The full report is available online at: http://www.democrats.org/vri/ohioreport/index.html
###