Kucinich asks for New Hampshire recount in the interest of election integrity
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Thursday, January 10, 2008
DETROIT, MI - Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, the
most outspoken advocate in the Presidential field and in Congress for election
integrity, paper-ballot elections, and campaign finance reform, has sent
a letter to the New Hampshire Secretary of State asking for a recount of
Tuesday's election because of "unexplained disparities between hand-counted
ballots and machine-counted ballots."
"I am not making this request in the expectation that a recount will
significantly affect the number of votes that were cast on my behalf,"
Kucinich stressed in a letter to Secretary of State William M. Gardner.
But, "Serious and credible reports, allegations, and rumors have surfaced
in the past few days ... It is imperative that these questions be addressed
in the interest of public confidence in the integrity of the election process
and the election machinery - not just in New Hampshire, but in every other
state that conducts a primary election."
Also, the reports, allegations, and rumors regarding possible vote-count
irregularities have been further fueled by the stunning disparities between
various "independent" pre-election polls and the actual election results,"
Kucinich wrote. "The integrity, credibility, and value of independent polling
are separate issues, but they appear to be relevant in the context of New
Hampshire's votes."
He added, "Ever since the 2000 election - and even before - the American
people have been losing faith in the belief that their votes were actually
counted. This recount isn't about who won 39% of 36% or even 1%. It's about
establishing whether 100% of the voters had 100% of their votes counted
exactly the way they cast them."
Kucinich, who drew about 1.4% of the New Hampshire Democratic primary
vote, wrote, "This is not about my candidacy or any other individual candidacy.
It is about the integrity of the election process." No other Democratic
candidate, he noted, has stepped forward to question or pursue the claims
being made.
"New Hampshire is in the unique position to address - and, if so determined,
rectify - these issues before they escalate into a massive, nationwide
suspicion of the process by which Americans elect their President. Based
on the controversies surrounding the Presidential elections in 2004 and
2000, New Hampshire is in a prime position to investigate possible irregularities
and to issue findings for the benefit of the entire nation," Kucinich wrote
in his letter.
"Without an official recount, the voters of New Hampshire and the rest
of the nation will never know whether there are flaws in our electoral
system that need to be identified and addressed at this relatively early
point in the Presidential nominating process," said Kucinich, who is campaigning
in Michigan this week in advance of next Tuesday's Presidential primary
in that state.