Greens hope for better recount systems, machine lockdowns

By John Byrne | RAW STORY Editor    16 December 2004

In an exclusive RAW STORY interview late Wednesday, Green Party spokesman Blair Bobier outlined his hopes for the Cobb-Badnarik-Kerry lawsuit addendum filed Wednesday.

Bobier, who is the lead spokesman for the party which ran David Cobb in an unsuccessful presidential campaign, said the additional filing would aid their original suit in seeking the establishment of more uniform standards for recount in Ohio. He also said that voting machines should be secured.

?I think what this does is provide pretty compelling evidence that the voting machines themselves should be secured or impounded,? Bobier said.

?There?s already pending litigation in front of a federal court,? he added. ?We?re trying to seek a number of things including the establishment of uniform standards for Ohio for conducting recounts, and by putting this material before the federal judge I think it increases the importance and the timeliness of the litigation.?

Bobier declined to provide any further evidence of tampering, but noted that the testimony of a local elections official Sherole Eaton who said a Triad Election Systems representative disabled a vote tabulation machine and tried to plant unverified information into the Ohio recount. He said this was not an isolated event.

Bobier noted that the Party was not conducting their own investigation in Ohio. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich) is leading a contingent of House Democrats on the Judiciary Committee in an investigation of Ohio voting; Eaton?s claims were first aired at a Columbus hearing Monday.

?We?re not really an
  
investigatory body,? he remarked. ?We informed Conyers about this incident, and it was our reporting that led the person who swore the affidavit to come forward and go on the record.?

?It?s not our role to be the investigating body but to transmit the information to those who have responsibility,? he added.

A staffer for Conyers office, who spoke with RAW STORY on the condition of anonymity Wednesday, asserts that the investigation continues in full force and that staffers are vetting claims of other irregularities.