Brunner Urges Use Of Early Voting And Absentee Ballots

CUYAHOGA COUNTY COMMISSIONERS’ REPORT ON DIEBOLD ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES

For Immediate Release

Cuyahoga County Commissioners called for the audit report as the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections implemented new direct recording electronic (DRE) voting machines sold by Diebold Election Systems, Inc.

In first ever circumstances, ESI was able to be present at the May primary election in Cuyahoga County and to conduct exit polls and subsequent audits of the new machines and their election results, having documented and observed election procedures and use of the

Diebold AccuVote TSX DRE voting system in the May 2006 primary election in the most populous county in Ohio.

The report cites poor procedures and an inability to reconcile the counts when comparing individual paper ballots with recorded totals on the paper ballots. The report also cites discrepancies between paper ballots and electronic archives in the machines and the machine memory cards. The report cautions that continuing to use this technology without major changes or safeguards leaves the county at risk of being unable to discern the will of the people if an election is a close election, especially on a recount. The report was placed on the Cuyahoga County Commissioners’website on Tuesday, August 15.

"This report is of historical significance," said Brunner. "These findings should give Ohio voters pause and grave concern. This is empirical evidence, conducted with scientific accuracy, that the DRE machines sold by Diebold to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, even with a paper trail, cannot be shown to be completely accurate. A raw comparison of hand counted ballots, counted by election officials from throughout the state, with paper ballot recorded totals, reveals inaccuracies ranging from 1 to 5 votes for 16.9% of the paper audit trail of individual ballots (VVPATs) and over 25 votes for 2.1% of the VVPATs.

Diebold produces ATM machines, that can be audited to the penny.

In April, 2006, with the filing of his state Ethics Report, current Secretary of State, Kenneth Blackwell, disclosed that he owned stock in Diebold at the time he negotiated contract terms with the voting machine vendor. Blackwell’s negotiations resulted in the Diebold

AccuVote TSX being the standard for which federal funding to the 88 county boards of elections would be disbursed for the purchase of voting machines. More than half of Ohio’s 88 counties have purchased Diebold machines.

Brunner advocates the use of early voting by paper ballot and absentee voting in Ohio this fall to avoid long lines at the polls and to best ensure a more accurate vote count in the fall. She urged each board of elections using Diebold to not use the machines for early or provisional voting but to plan now for extra paper absentee ballots for early and provisional voting.

For absentee voting information, see:

The Election Science Institute is a non-partisan, non-profit election science organization, seeking to improve the election process using rigorous science-based approaches done in collaboration with the nation’s foremost election science experts.

The situation in Cuyahoga County is one more reason why Jennifer Brunner is running for Ohio Secretary of State. With her election law experience and work in the Secretary of State’s office and on the Franklin County Board of Elections she is committed to making Ohio’s election system trustworthy and fair. She will do what it takes to identify the impact these findings will have on the future of elections in Ohio.

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Jennifer Brunner, Democratic Candidate Ohio Secretary of State

Paid for by Jennifer Brunner Committee, 545 E. Town Street, Columbus, OH 43215, Laura T. Riggs-Kolman, Treasurer, 614-255-4254