New Hampshire Recount Appealed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE
17 February 2008 | www.AlbertHoward.org

Republican Presidential Candidate Appeals New Hampshire Recount and Calls for Internet Monitoring of Future Ballot Boxes

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE: Albert Howard, the Republican Presidential candidate who ordered a statewide recount in New Hampshire, completed on Monday, February 11th, filed an appeal to that recount on February 15th with Secretary of State Bill Gardner’s office.

The appeal requests, "That the Ballot Law Commission and the Secretary of State’s office disclaim any opinion on the accuracy of the Presidential primary election AND the statewide Republican recount because checks and balances to maintain the integrity of the ballots and the total counts were either not followed, or not in place."

"We are determined to get a full hearing either at this Commission, or at a Federal Court," said Vickie Karp, National Chair of the Coalition for Visible Ballots.

Through the donations of many concerned voters and election reform activists, the Mr. Howard was able to raise the $55,000 necessary to pay for a statewide recount of New Hampshire’s 100% paper ballots. The problem appears to be the 81% of those paper ballots that were counted by Diebold optical scan counters.

Problems with the Diebold optical scan counters were reported in many cities and towns, including Manchester and Barnstead. Some machines malfunctioned. Some failed altogether. Some accepted ballots but did not record votes. Some rejected the ballots.

The high error for the Diebold Optical Scanner is well-known. In a recent test at UCONN, the Diebold Precinct-Based Optical Scan Accuvote 1.94w system (AV OS) demonstrated a failure rate of roughly 3.4%. Diebold itself issued a Product Advisory Note about this machine on January 25, 2008, too late for election officials in NH to be forewarned before the Primary.

In addition to problems with the optical scan counters, there were serious lapses in the "physical chain of custody" of the ballots after the Primary was over. In some cases, memory cards, which are essentially electronic ballot boxes, could not be located. Some boxes of ballots delivered for the recount were not properly sealed. Some came with no tape at all, making it impossible to verify that they had not been tampered with. Other ballots arrived in bundles wrapped in newspaper or brown paper. Some ballot boxes were left overnight in an unsecured room. The appeal notes that some ballots were delivered at night after employees had left the building, and "...their delivery was not witnessed by any member of the public or citizen monitors."

A number of solutions to these problems are presented in the appeal, starting with the requirement that election officials abide by the laws and follow all applicable procedures already in place to ensure the integrity of elections. In addition, he advocates that cameras be set up filming the ballot boxes at all times and broadcasting live over the Internet for citizens to oversee.

The problems in NH are, unfortunately, not unique. Similar problems with voting machines and lapses in the physical chain of custody have been reported all over the country in recent elections. Albert Howard’s Petition may prove to be an important step in the direction of ensuring honest, transparent elections in the future.

Contact: Bob Dwyer 508-930-5530, jukelsa3@yahoo.com