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GAO Agrees to Investigate Election Problems from 2004 By Matthew Cardinale Eighteen days following the initial request, the General Accountability Office (GAO) has agreed today to investigate several incidents of election problems from the recent November election, to satisfy the concerns brought forth by Representative John Conyers (D-IL) and 13 other Congresspersons. Results from the investigation are not expected to be available prior to Bush’s currently-planned Inauguration. “I don’t think the results are going to be as rapid as people want them to be,” said press spokesman for Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Mr. John Doty. A series of letters had been sent to the GAO, beginning of November 5. John Conyers (D-MI), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Robert Wexler (D-FL), Robert Scott (D-GA), Melvin Watt (D-NC), Rush Holt (D-NJ), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), George Miller (D-CA), John Olver (D-MA), Bob Filner (D-CA), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), and Barbara Lee (D-CA). Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) called the House Judiciary Committee office yesterday to become the 14th signatory, according to a committee staffer named Theresa. But a statement issued by the GAO on their website stressed that the nonpartisan congressional research office will be merely conducting an impartial investigation. It will be up to appropriate state and federal agencies, however, to respond to findings in order to uphold election laws and citizens rights, or challenge the elections results. Conyers and the other supporters of the GAO probe are still very encouraged. A press release out of Rep. Jerrold Nadler’s Office (D-NY), stated, “We are pleased that the GAO has reviewed the concerns expressed in our letters and has found them of sufficient merit to warrant further investigation.” “On its own authority,” the Representatives’ statement continued, “We are hopeful that GAO's non-partisan and expert analysis will get to the bottom of the flaws uncovered in the 2004 election. As part of this inquiry, we will provide copies of specific incident reports received in our offices, including more than 57,000 such complaints provided to the House Judiciary Committee.” Doty, spokesperson for Rep. Nadler (D-NY), continued, “A lot of people are interested in changing the election results, but I don’t think at this point, at least the Congressmen don’t see enough content to change the election results. The point is to fix irregularities.” Rep. Nadler, who is the ranking Democratic member of the Subcommittee of the Constitution, on the House Judiciary Committee, plans to continue supporting Rep. Rush Holt’s bill to demand a receipt, or paper trail, for all voters. “There will be calls for hearings,” said Nadler spokesman, John Doty. “We need to reauthorize the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). We’ve been pushing for the Rush Holt paper trail bill. Nadler intends to play an important role in improving our elections, and in working closely with the Judiciary Committee. As Democrats on the Committee, we will continue to investigate the election, but we’re unsure whether Republican Chairman Sensenbrenner will ultimately support a bi-partisan Congressional investigation. We certainly hope he will.” CNN reported the GAO, in their research, “will not investigate every charge listed by the Democrats, but will examine ‘the security and accuracy of voting technologies, distribution and allocation of voting machines and counting of provisional ballots.’" The GAO asserts, “Under the nation’s legal framework, elections are largely a matter reserved to, and regulated by, the states… Congress has, however, asserted its prerogatives under the Election Clause of the Constitution (Article 1, Section 4, Clause 1) to impose certain procedural requirements on federal elections through such federal statutes such as the Help America Vote Act and the National Voter Registration Act, both of which are enforced by the Department of Justice.” Actual steps to enforce remedies when election irregularities occur are referred to the following three agencies in the GAO statement: The Civil Rights Division, Voting Section, at the Department of Justice; The Criminal Division, Public Integrity Section, at the Department of Justice; and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Many concerns were brought forth by the Congresspersons, including the almost 4,000 votes awarded to Bush in Columbus, Ohio, reported by the AP, which was starkly noticeable because more votes were recorded in the precinct than there were registered voters. Other reported incidents included votes that were lost on a local initiative in Florida because the computer could only store so many votes; approximately 4,500 votes lost in one North Carolina county; a glitch in San Francisco computers which caused many votes to be uncounted; and Florida's anomalous results where only districts with touch screen voting had disproportionate votes for Bush than expected. A second letter, dated November 8, cited even more problems, including AP reports in Florida and Ohio of voters who stated when using touch screens, that if they selected "John Kerry," instead "George Bush" would appear on the screen; long lines reported in urban Ohio areas; 3,000 phantom votes that were added by a Nebraska "vote tabulator" which doubled the votes; 22,000 North Carolina votes the computer initially discarded; 21 voting machines in Broward County, Florida, that malfunctioned, eliminating prior votes; and boxes of absentee votes discovered after the election in a Broward County election office. Notably, nine (9) out of the current 14 supporters are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC). They are Barbara Lee (who is a leader of the Caucus), along with John Conyers, Jerold Nadler, Melvin Watt, Tammy Baldwin, George Miller, John Olver, Bob Filner, and Jan Schakowsky. There are currently 55 congressional members on the Progressive Caucus, according to http://bernie.house.gov/pc/members.asp “The right to vote and the right to have our votes counted are both fundamental to our democratic system of government,” said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), in a statement dated November 15, 2004. “As elected representatives of the people, we hold a sacred responsibility to every voter across this nation to ensure that their vote is counted and recorded properly. We cannot, and we should not accept any flaws in our election process.” Julie Nickson, press secretary for Rep. Barbara Lee, added, "She signed it because she was aware of the situation. We got some phone calls from constituents." One senator and one House Representative are required to contest an election result prior to Inauguration. In the 2000 election, over 30 Congresspersons contested Bush's inauguration, but at that time not one Senator would join in the objection. Matthew Cardinale is a freelance writer, activist, and graduate student in sociology and democracy studies at UC Irvine. He can be reached at mcardina@uci.edu. Add your comments below |
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