Bobby Scott: “Functional democracy requires that the citizens have confidence in an election process and of course confidence that all…”

“Functional democracy requires that the citizens have confidence in an election process and of course confidence that all legitimate votes will be counted. Clearly the State of Ohio is not able to provide such confidence. First, there is a significant unexplained, uninvestigated difference in exit polling results and the reported election results. There are specific unresolved allegations of other election problems, particularly the long lines in some precincts that were caused not because of an unanticipated voter turnout but because of insufficient voting machines in the precinct. Other allegations were widespread and none of these allegations was investigated. I know, Mr. Speaker, that this objection is somewhat awkward because it does not have the apparent support for the candidate involved, but I believe it is our responsibility to ensure that election results meet the spirit and letter of our Constitution and that we have confidence in the process by demonstrating that voting schemes and irregularities are not ignored. Mr. Speaker, I would hope that we would take this in consideration as we review this election return so that this does not happen again.”