Audit the Vote

For Immediate Release
December 9, 2004
Contact: Meghan Scott - 610.737.8150

COMMUNITY LEADERS AND COMPUTER EXPERTS UNITE TO AUDIT THE VOTE
National Network Comes Together to Ensure Integrity and Sanctity of
American Democracy

A new national organization, Audit the Vote, has been formed to ensure that
our elections are fair and accurate. Americans are already working on
recounts in Ohio and New Mexico.

Among its immediate activities, Audit the Vote will participate in the
investigation of the Presidential election to ensure that every vote is
counted accurately and to gain a better understanding about problems with
voting procedures. To this end, it supports ballot recounts, public records
searches, and legal avenues to identify problems in the electoral process.
Recounts have been requested in Ohio and New Mexico and are expected to
begin next week.

?Our electoral system has some serious flaws, but it can?t be repaired until
we are really able to get under the hood and find what?s broken,? said
Eleanor LeCain, founder of Audit the Vote. ?We are not satisfied to sit
back and simply accept that the system is flawed. We, as Americans, have
the right to find shortcomings in our voting system, and the power to fix
those problems.?

Audit the Vote was founded on the premise that for our society to function
properly, every eligible voter must be allowed to vote and every vote be
counted as cast. If votes are denied due to voter suppression, computer
malfunction, or intentional manipulation, the public has a right to know.
Likewise, if votes are being cast fairly and counted accurately, it is
critical to restore confidence in our voting system.

The recounts in Ohio and New Mexico were requested by the campaigns of the
Green and Libertarian party presidential candidates in response to
irregularities regarding faulty voting machines, polling place closures, and
changing vote totals since the election. Audit the Vote has partnered with
Help America Recount to work on these recounts.

There has been a groundswell of popular support for the recount in New
Mexico, with more than 750 volunteers coming forward to oversee the process
in a 48-hour period. Trainings for volunteers will begin Saturday. The
recount is expected to get underway Monday.

In Ohio, where the recount is also slated to begin Monday, nearly 2,200
volunteers have already begun training to monitor the process. As recount
efforts begin, State electors will meet, to cast votes in the November
presidential election. However, the electoral votes will not be official
until January 6, 2005, when they are opened and voted upon by the full
United States House and Senate.

Audit the Vote has launched http://www.auditthevote.org/ to provide credible
recount information and opportunities for the public to get involved.

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