Help raise money to continue the valuable discovery of privatized
electronic vote recording and tabulation problems. If adequate funding
is raised immediately, discovery will continue with meaningful machine
inspections conducted by academic experts.
There are real and serious problems with the 2004 General Election
results. Although we have seen similar issues in other states, the
analysis in New Mexico, due to the availability of the data, and
thoroughness and manner in which the analysis was conducted, has
pinpointed serious problems according to specific machine types at the
precinct level. Troubling patterns of unreliability and gross errors in
the official election results especially in Native American and Hispanic
communities have emerged. Problems include:
* 24,000 "under votes", that is , a ballot cast but no vote
recorded, with the highest under vote percentages in Hispanic and
Native American precincts - but only when those voters votes on
specific electronic paperless voting equipment. These under vote
rates in the same precincts dropped when voters used paper ballots.
* Over 2,000 phantom votes in the Presidential election alone (Over
10,000 across the state)
* A high number of incident reports of switched votes on touch
screen machines
* Data manipulation by a third party vendor after the canvass
report had been filed.
* Tally results from a poll tape that omit the name and results for
Kerry altogether
* A disturbing review by a certified public accountant hired by the
Secretary of State regarding the official results.
A lawsuit was filed in New Mexico state court on January 14, 2005. The
primary purpose of this action is to obtain a permanent injunction
against use of the voting machines that have been linked to these
problems. In addition to this goal, we hope to also gain better
understanding of the problems through extensive discovery and share
those findings with organizations and the public on a national level.
This is a unique opportunity.
Money must be raised quickly in order to move discovery forward in a
timely and effective manner (see discovery update below for our initial
findings). Currently we are in negotiations for machine inspection
which, once agreement has been met, will require immediate cash flow. If
we are able to secure adequate funding by the end of October we will be
able to proceed.A minimum of approximately $70K must be raised in
October to accomplish this in a meaningful way.
The total budget for the New Mexico research and litigation effort is
$250,000. As a project of the International Humanities Center, a
501(c)(3) organization, Voter Action can offer donors tax deductibility
to the full extent permitted by law. Checks should be made out to Voter
Action/IH Center c/o Voter Action, PO Box 25651, Albuquerque, NM 87125.
Credit card payments may be made at our website -
Voter Action.
Gifts of stock can be made by contacting
Pam Stokes at Voter Action New Mexico 505 823 6362 or Co Director Holly
Jacobson 206 769 7185.
Please help us continue this work!
