Reply #5: Page Three [View All]

[Stephanie]

The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell
Page Three
December 2, 2004

Ralph Nader was not on the Ohio ballot in 2004. Yet, the tallies reflect John Kerry receiving exactly the same percentage in Warren County as Gore received, 28%. 8

We hope you agree that transparent election procedures are vital to public confidence in electoral results. Moreover, such aberrant procedures only create suspicion and doubt that the counting of votes was manipulated. As part of your decision to certify the election, we hope you have investigated these concerns and found them without merit. To assist us in reaching a similar conclusion, we ask the following:

1. Have you, in fact, conducted an investigation of the lockdown? What procedures have you or would you recommend be put into place to avoid a recurrence of this situation?

2. Have you ascertained whether County officials were advised of terrorist activity by an FBI agent and, if so, the identity of that agent?

3. If County officials were not advised of terrorist activity by an FBI agent, have you inquired as to why they misrepresented this fact? If the lockdown was not as a response to a terrorist threat, why did it take place? Did any manipulation of vote tallies occur?

B. Perry County Election Counting Discrepancies - The House Judiciary Committee Democratic staff has received information indicating discrepancies in vote tabulations in Perry County. For example, the sign-in book for the Reading S precinct indicates that approximately 360 voters cast ballots in that precinct.9 In the same precinct, the sign-in book indicates that there were 33 absentee votes cast.’° In sum, this would appear to mean that fewer than 400 total votes were cast in that precinct. Yet, the precinct’s official tallies indicate that 489 votes were cast.” In addition, some voters’ names have two ballot stub numbers listed next to their entries creating the appearance that voters were allowed to cast more than one ballot.12
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8 Ohio Secretary of State 2004 Presidential Vote Results,
www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/rcsults/2004fgcn/prcs.htm. Kerry received 25,399 votes out of 92,251 cast (27.53%).

9 Sign-In Book, Reading S Precinct, Perry County Board of Elections, 11/02/04 General Election, copy on file with House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff.

10 Id.

11 Copy of Signed Printout of Initial Perry County Voting Tallies, on file with House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff.

12 Supra note 9.