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Dear Mr. Siegel:
As one of the Regional Coordinators for the Green Party's 2004 recount of the Ohio presidential race, I am writing to you about your December 24 article, "Recount expense criticized".
A bit of background about myself, I am actually a registered Democrat who has many years of service as a pollworker in Western Pennsylvania, within commuting distance of the eastern Ohio border. Although Senator Kerry officially "won" my home state, from the minute I delivered my local precinct results to my own county courthouse on election night I knew there was something desperately wrong with the election of 2004. The usual celebratory atmosphere among our election workers (of all political stripes) was more like that of people witnessing a funeral as the results came in. In the days and weeks following the election, the level of general distrust in the election and complaint among people in my area reached unprecedented levels. Even my own mother cancelled the major surgery she had scheduled for mid-November because the election had her so upset.
When I learned that the Green Party candidate David Cobb was seeking a recount to audit the 2004 vote in nearby Ohio, I jumped at the opportunity to join his party’s effort. I ended up coordinating volunteer recount observers in four Eastern Ohio counties near my home -- Belmont, Jefferson, Harrison, and Monroe. By joining the recount, I had no wish to overturn any election results, and certainly no preconceived notion of any fraud waiting to be discovered. Because of my pollworker experience, and because of my concern for the sanctity of the voting process in our democracy, I simply wanted to learn, if possible, why I and so many other voters felt so strongly that "something was wrong."
In retrospect, I believe that the citizens of Ohio spent their money and time well on this recount of the 2004 vote. Why? Because it is always a good idea to audit. If there is indeed nothing wrong, nothing to hide, then simply let everyone take a look. And if there is anything wrong, it needs to be found and fixed. Although results are still being analyzed, the recount did reveal many areas in the voting process that seem to need attention or improvement -- not only applicable to Ohio but to other states as well.
I am shocked and appalled at the suggestion of Kenneth Blackwell and others to “restrict” recount efforts in future elections, or to price them beyond the reach of smaller political parties. Any such restriction will only serve to marginalize all but the major candidates, and will only increase voter distrust in the whole political process.
Persons quoted in your article seem to have the notion that a hand recount or audit of the votes (or even a small three percent of the votes as was actually hand-counted this time) is a waste of time and money unless somebody has a chance of changing the results and "winning". Nothing could be further from the truth. It is only common sense that any organization or activity be audited on a regular basis, from our smallest community clubs to our largest banks, yet our elections are not. Generally, we count the votes once, say "trust us, we got it right", and rush the election materials to deep storage or to the incinerator. And that is wrong. After going through the recount process in your state, I have come to believe that a random audit of the vote, on a regular basis in all states, would be very prudent. In a nation where we can spend $50 million to re-inaugurate an incumbent President, certainly we can budget a few dollars to make sure that we really did “get it right” in any election that may have put him there.
Having been involved over the past weeks as a recount observer myself, in several Ohio counties, I fail to see the extreme costs complained about by Mr. Blackwell and others in your article. In the vast majority of Ohio counties, the recount effort took less than one day. And in the few counties that took a bit longer, is not a little extra staff time or computer time a small price to pay to earn the trust of the public in our voting process? Until the Ohio Recount of 2004, there had never been a full, statewide recount or audit of a Presidential vote before, in any state. I am proud to have been a participant; and am honored to have worked with David Cobb and the Green Party, the volunteer observers, the Ohio Boards of Election, and all others who made up this historic effort to improve our democracy.
Marybeth Kuznik
Eastern OH - PA Border Region Recount Coordinator
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