Reply #44: The Conyers Report: What Went Wrong in Ohio... [View All]

There were numerous, significant unexplained irregularities in other counties throughout the state: (i) in Mahoning conty at least 25 electronic machines transferred an unknown number of Kerry votes to the Bush column; (ii) Warren County locked out public observers from vote counting citing an FBI warning about a potential terrorist threat, yet the FBI states that it issued no such warning; (iii) the voting records of Perry county show significantly more votes than voters in some precincts, significantly less ballots than voters in other precincts, and voters casting more than one ballot; (iv) in Butler county a down ballot and underfunded Democratic State Supreme Court candidate implausibly received more votes than the best funded Democratic Presidential candidate in history; (v) in Cuyahoga county, poll worker error may have led to little known thirdparty candidates receiving twenty times more votes than such candidates had ever received in otherwise reliably Democratic leaning areas; (vi) in Miami county, voter turnout was an improbable and highly suspect 98.55 percent, and after 100 percent of the precincts were reported, an additional 19,000 extra votes were recorded for President Bush.

- P.6, What Went Wrong in Ohio, PDF

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The voting computer company Triad has essentially admitted that it engaged in a course of behavior during the recount in numerous counties to provide “cheat sheets” to those counting the ballots. The cheat sheets informed election officials how many votes they should find for each candidate, and how many over and under votes they should calculate to match the machine count. In that way, they could avoid doing a full county-wide hand recount mandated by state law.

- P.7, ibid.

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We have received numerous reports of transfers of votes for Senator Kerry to votes for President Bush. Specifically, in Youngstown, the Washington Post reported that their investigation revealed 25 electronic machines transferred an unknown number of Kerry votes to the Bush column. Jeanne White, a veteran voter and manager at the Buckeye Review, an African American newspaper, stepped into the booth, pushed the button for Kerry – and watched her vote jump to the Bush column. “I saw what happened; I started screaming: ‘They’re cheating again and they’re starting early!” The Election Protection Coalition also confirmed these voting “glitches” noting that a “voter reported “Every time I tried to vote for the Democratic Party Presidential vote the machine went blank. I had to keep trying, it took 5 times.”...

...There is also information, still being investigated, that in several precincts, there were more votes counted by machine than signatures in poll books (which includes absentee voters). This would mean that more people voted by machine at a precinct than actually appeared at that location. For example, in CMP 4C Precinct, there were 279 signatures and 280 machine votes. In BLV 1 Precinct, there were 396 signatures but 398 machine votes. In AUS 12 Precinct, there were 372 signatures but 376 machine votes. In POT 1 Precinct, there were 479 signatures but 482 machine votes, and in YGN 6F Precinct, there were 270 signatures but 273 machine votes. It would appear from these numbers that the machines counted more votes than voters.

Secretary of State Blackwell has refused to answer any of the questions concerning these matters posed to him by Ranking Member Conyers and 11 other Members of the Judiciary Committee on December 2, 2004.

- P.52-53, ibid.

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In Butler County, a Democratic candidate for State Supreme Court, C. Ellen Connally, received 59,532 votes. In contrast, the Kerry-Edwards ticket received only 54,185 votes, 5,000 less than the State Supreme Court candidate. Additionally, the victorious Republican candidate for State Supreme Court received approximately 40,000 less votes than the Bush-Cheney ticket. Further, Connally received 10,000 or more votes in excess of Kerry’s total number of votes in five counties and 5,000 more votes in excess of Kerry’s total in ten others.

- P.54, ibid.

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It appears implausible that 5,000 voters waited in line to cast votes for an underfunded Democratic Supreme Court candidate and then declined to cast a vote for the most wellfunded Democratic Presidential campaign in history. We have been able to ascertain no answer to the question of how an underfunded Democratic State Supreme Court candidate could receive such a disproportionately large number of votes in Butler County over the Kerry-Edwards ticket. This raises the possibility that thousands votes for Senator Kerry were lost, either through manipulation or mistake. The loss of these votes would likely violate constitutional protections of equal protection and due process; if manipulation is involved, that would also violate the Voting Rights Act and Ohio election law. This anomaly calls for an investigation, which Mr. Blackwell has failed to initiate.

- P.55, ibid.

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On election day, a computerized voting machine in ward 1B in the Gahana precinct of Franklin County recorded a total of 4,258 votes for President Bush and 260 votes for Democratic challenger John Kerry. However, there are only 800 registered voters in that Gahana precinct, and only 638 people cast votes at the New Life Church polling site. It has since been discovered that a computer glitch resulted in the recording of 3,893 extra votes for President George W. Bush – the numbers were adjusted to show President Bush’s true vote count at 365 votes and Senator Kerry’s at 260 votes.

- P.57, ibid.

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In Miami County, voter turnout was a highly suspect and improbable 98.55 percent. With 100% of the precincts reporting on Wednesday, November 3, 2004, President Bush received 20,807 votes, or 65.80% of the vote, and Senator Kerry received 10,724 votes, or 33.92% of the vote. Thus, Miami reported a total of 31,620 voters. Inexplicably, nearly 19,000 new ballots were added after all precincts reported, boosting President Bush’s vote count to 33,039, or 65.77%, while Senator Kerry’s vote percentage stayed exactly the same to three one-hundredths of a percentage point at 33.92 percent. Roger Kearney of Rhombus Technologies, Ltd., the reporting company responsible for vote results of Miami County, stated that the problem was not with his reporting and that the additional 19,000 votes were added before 100% of the precincts were in.

Mr. Kearney’s statement does not explain how the vote count could change for President Bush, but not for Senator Kerry, after 19,000 new votes were added to the roster. Thus, we are primarily concerned with identifying a valid explanation for the statistical anomaly that showed virtually identical ratios after the final 20-40% of the votes were counted. Specifically, we have received no explanation as to how the vote count in this particular county could have changed for President Bush, but not for Senator Kerry, after 19,000 new votes were added to the roster. The vote results in Miami constitute yet another significant anomaly in the tens of thousands range without any explanation or investigation by Secretary of State Blackwell, leading us to conclude that there is likely some vote error or vote manipulation. This could constitute a violation of constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process and, if intentional, would likely violate the Voting Rights Act and Ohio election law.

- P.58-59, ibid.

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In another precinct in Perry County, W Lexington G AB, 350 voters are registered according to the County’s initial tallies. Yet, 434 voters cast ballots. As the tallies indicate, this would be an impossible 124% voter turnout. The breakdown on election night was initially reported to be 174 votes for Bush, and 246 votes for Kerry. We are advised that the Perry County Board of Elections has since issued a correction claiming that, due to a computer error, some votes were counted twice. We are advised that the new tallies state that only people voted, and the tally is 90 votes for Bush and 127 votes for Kerry. This would make it appear that virtually every ballot was counted twice, which seems improbable.

In Madison Township, Precinct AAS, a review of the poll books shows that 481 people signed in to vote on election day, yet the Perry County Board of Elections is reporting that votes were cast in that precinct, a difference of 13 votes. The same discrepancy appears with respect to Monroe Township AAV. The poll books show that 384 people signed in on election day to vote, while the Perry County Board of Elections reports that 393 votes were cast, a difference of 9 votes.

- P.60-61

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In Auglaize County, there were voting machine errors. In a letter dated October 21, 2004, Ken Nuss, former deputy director of the County Board of Elections, claimed that Joe McGinnis, a former employee of ES&S, the company that provides the voting systems in Auglaize County, had access to and used the main computer that is used to create the ballot and compile election results. Mr. McGinnis’s access to and use of the main computer was a violation of county board of election protocol. After calling attention to this irregularity in the voting system, Mr. Nuss was suspended and then resigned.

In Mahoning County, one precinct in Youngstown recorded a negative 25 million votes.

In Mercer County, one voting machine showed that 289 people cast punch card ballots, but only 51 votes were recorded for president. The county’s website appeared to show a similar anomaly, reporting that 51,818 people cast ballots but only 47,768 ballots were recorded in the presidential race, including 61 write-ins, meaning that approximately 4,000 votes, or nearly 7%, were not counted for a presidential candidate.

- P.66, Ibid.

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Perhaps the most disturbing irregularity that we have learned of in connection with the recount concerns the activities and operations of Triad GSI, a voting machine company. On December 13, 2004, House Judiciary Committee Democratic-staff met with Ms. Sherole Eaton, Deputy Director of Elections for Hocking County. She explained that on Friday, December 10, 2004, Michael Barbian, Jr., a representative of Triad GSI, unilaterally sought and obtained access to the voting machinery and records in Hocking County, Ohio.

Ms. Eaton witnessed Mr. Barbian modify the Hocking County computer vote tabulator before the announcement of the Ohio recount. She further witnessed Barbian, upon the announcement that the Hocking County precinct was planned to be the subject of the initial Ohio test recount, make further alterations based on his knowledge of that information. She also has firsthand knowledge that Barbian advised election officials how to manipulate voting machinery to ensure that a preliminary hand recount matched the machine count...

...The Directors of the Board of Elections in both Fulton and Henry County stated that the Triad company had reprogrammed the computer by remote dial-up to count only the presidential votes prior to the start of the recount.

In Monroe County, the 3% hand-count failed to match the machine count twice. Subsequent runs on that machine did not match each other nor the hand count. The Monroe County Board of Elections summoned a repairman from Triad to bring a new machine and the recount was suspended and reconvened for the following day. On the following day, a new machine was present at the Board of Elections office and the old machine was gone. The Board conducted a test run followed by the 3% hand-counted ballots. The results matched this time and the Board conducted the remainder of the recount by machine.

In Harrison County, a representative of the Triad company reprogrammed and retested the tabulator machine and software prior to the start of the recount. The Harrison County tabulating computer is connected to a second computer which is linked to the Secretary of State’s Office in Columbus. The Triad technician handled all ballots during the machine recount and performed all tabulation functions. The Harrison County Board of Elections kept voted ballots and unused ballots in a room open to direct public access during daytime hours when the courthouse is open. The Board had placed voted ballots in unsealed transfer cases stored in an old wooden cabinet that, at one point, was said to be lockable and, at another point, was said to be unlockable.

Based on the above, including actual admissions and statements by Triad employees, it strongly appears that Triad and its employees engaged in a course of behavior to provide “cheat sheets” to those counting the ballots. The cheat sheets told them how many votes they should find for each candidate, and how many over and under votes they should calculate to match the machine count. In that way, they could avoid doing a full county-wide hand recount mandated by state law. If true, this would frustrate the entire purpose of the recount law – to randomly ascertain if the vote counting apparatus is operating fairly and effectively, and if not to conduct a full hand recount. By ensuring that election boards are in a position to conform their test recount results with the election night results, Triad’s actions may well have prevented scores of counties from conducting a full and fair recount in compliance with equal protection, due process, and the first amendment.

- P.81-83, Ibid.