DNC Issues Major Report on the 2004 Election in Ohio

You can find the report, "Democracy at Risk: The 2004 Election in Ohio," here.

It is worth reading at least this executive summary. The report finds numerous problems with voting in Ohio, but significantly rejects the assertion that has floated in some Internet circles of fraud causing the votes of John Kerry to have been misallocated to George Bush. Also significant is opposition to DREs and arguments in favor of precinct-based optical scans. These are the main findings:
A. Substantial numbers of voters experienced problems in voting and these problems varied significantly by race, geography and type of voting machine and tabulation system that was used.
B. Scarcity of voting equipment caused long lines and deterred people from voting. These problems varied significantly by race and type of voting machine.
C. Provisional ballots were vastly overused in Ohio and the types of voters forced to vote provisionally varied significantly by registration status, residential mobility and race. Anecdotal evidence suggests these problems were due to extremely faulty election administration.
D. Identification requirements were illegally administered and the effects varied significantly by race and age.
E. There were significant problems in processing new registrations and these problems varied by race and county.
F. Many voters experienced intimidation and this experience varied significantly by race.
G Voters were less likely to have their votes counted in counties using punchcard machines and optical scan machines that were centrally tabulated.
H. The study findings and independent analysis indicate that the use of DRE (touchscreen) machines is highly problematic and the use of precinct-tabulated optical scan systems is vastly preferable if accessibility issues can be successfully addressed.
I. The statistical study of precinct-level data does not suggest the occurrence of widespread fraud that systematically misallocated votes from Kerry to Bush.

-- 
Rick Hasen
William H. Hannon Distinguished Professor of Law
Loyola Law School
919 Albany Street
Los Angeles, CA  90015-1211
(213)736-1466
(213)380-3769 - fax
rick.hasen@lls.edu
http://www.lls.edu/academics/faculty/hasen.html
http://electionlawblog.org