Reply #16: Source story is dated July 1 [View All]

[paineinthearse]

Is that right?

http://apnews.myway.com//article/20050702/D8B2V3J80.html

Justice Clears Ohio in Voting Booth Bias

Jul 1, 9:45 PM (ET)

By SARAH ANDERSON

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Department of Justice says it found no evidence of discrimination in the distribution of voting machines in two Ohio counties in the 2004 presidential election. The department began investigating after voters complained of long voting lines and alleged discrimination in Franklin and Knox counties. Investigators wanted to determine if elections officials had intentionally skewed the placement of machines to favor Republicans.

The Justice Department said, however, the distribution in Franklin County narrowly favored black voters. Because turnout in predominantly black precincts was lower than in white ones, machines in those districts averaged fewer votes, according to a report released Wednesday. An unanticipated 76 percent turnout - with many first-time voters - contributed to the long lines in the Kenyon College precinct in Knox County - with some people forced to wait until 4 a.m. to vote on just two available machines, officials found.

Distribution of voting machines is determined by county boards of elections, made up of two Democrats, two Republicans and two nonvoting members. Franklin County, which includes Columbus, had 2,904 machines on hand for 535,575 people who showed up to vote. In the Knox County precinct, the number of registered voters more than doubled to 1,607 between March and November of 2004. But by the time those numbers were available, the Knox County board already had decided on the distribution of voting machines.

The election turned on Ohio's 20 electoral college votes, and not until preliminary results were available early Nov. 3 did Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry concede. President Bush defeated Kerry by about 118,000 votes in the state.