William L. Clay: “The numerous irregularities that occurred with the electronic voting machines in Ohio on November 2 of last year point…”

“The numerous irregularities that occurred with the electronic voting machines in Ohio on November 2 of last year point to an unresolved national crisis: The lack of a unified standard for all voters and all ballots cast in a Federal election. Congress must establish this standard, with a verifiable paper or audit trail. It is the only way to ensure the integrity of the Federal election process. Reports of voter intimidation, inadequate and malfunctioning voting machines, incompetent election judges, and lines at polling places in urban areas that lasted for many hours were widespread. These irregularities were compounded by the irresponsible conduct of the allegedly unbiased top election official who openly became a partisan advocate for his party's Presidential nominee. The Ohio Secretary of State has refused to assist us in the search for the truth. He has shown no interest in determining whether the glitches were the result of mistakes, negligence, or intentional misconduct. Numerous voters have reported that when they attempted to cast a vote for Kerry-Edwards, the electronic voting machine registered the vote as a ballot for Bush-Cheney. While it is difficult to quantify the number of votes that were altered or affected by the irregularities that have been reported, a single vote not counted, as it was intended . . . is a discredit to our democracy.”