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Preserving Democracy:What Went Wrong in Ohio

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Status Report of theHouse Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff January 5, 2005

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary............................................................4Chronology of Events..........................................................7Relevant Background Law......................................................13A.Federal Constitutional Law Safeguards................................13B.Federal Statutory Election Safeguards.................................15C.Ohio Election Safeguards..........................................161.The Right to Vote in Ohio....................................172.Declaring Results...........................................183.Security of Ballots and Machinery.............................184.The Law of Recounts and Contests.............................20D.Determination of Ohio’s Electoral College Votes........................21Detailed Findings.............................................................23A.Pre-Election.....................................................241.Machine Allocations –

Why were there such long lines in Democraticleaning areas but not Republican leaning areas?

..................242.Cutting Back on the Right to Provisional Ballots..................313.Cutting Back on the Right of Citizens to Register to Vote...........364.Targeting New Minority Voter Registrants –

Caging

...............405.Targeting Minority and Urban Voters for Legal Challenges..........436.Denying Absentee Voters Who Never Got Their Ballots the Right to aProvisional Ballot..........................................477.Denying Access to the News Media............................48B.Election Day.....................................................491.County-Specific Issues.......................................492.Myriad Other Problems and Irregularities........................63a.Intimidation and Misinformation.........................63 b.Machine Irregularities.................................65c.Registration Irregularities and Official Misconduct and Errors..673.General Problems...........................................70a.Spoiled Ballots –

Hanging Chads Again?

..................70 b.Exit Polls Bolster Claims of Irregularities and Fraud.........72C.Post-Election....................................................781.Confusion in Counting Provisional Ballots.......................782.Justice Delayed is Justice Denied –

Recounts were Delayed Because of a Late Declaration of Results

...................................793.Triad GSI –

Using a “Cheat Sheet” to Cheat the Voters in Hocking and Other Counties

.............................................814.Greene County –

Long Waits, the Unlocked Lockdown and Discarded Ballots

...................................................87

35.Other Recount Irregularities...................................91a.Irregularities in Selecting the Initial 3% Hand Count.........92 b.Irregularities in Applying the Full Hand-Count Requirement...94c.Irregularities in the Treatment of Ballots...................94d.Irregularities in the Treatment of Witnesses at the Recount andtheir Access to Ballots.................................95Recommendations............................................................97A.Electoral College Challenge........................................97B.Need for Further Congressional Hearings.............................100C. Legislation.....................................................101