Voter Confidence Committee
of Humboldt County, CA

Home

VCC PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

92% OF AMERICANS FAVOR PUBLIC'S RIGHT TO KNOW HOW VOTES ARE COUNTED
Zogby poll results reveal citizens' support of election reform efforts
Monday, August 21, 2006, Eureka, CA -- An overwhelming 92% of Americans support transparency and verifiability in elections, according to a new Zogby poll to be be released Tuesday. The Voter Confidence Committee of Humboldt County endorses the survey's conclusions. The survey was commissioned by election protection attorney Paul Lehto, currently representing San Diego voters in a challenge to the results of California's 50th district Congressional contest held on June 6.

SURVEY FINDINGS

The actual survey question and answers are as follows:

"In some states, members of the public have the right to view the counting of votes and verify how that process is working. In other states, citizens are in effect barred from viewing vote counting even if they would like to view the process. Which of the following two statements are you more likely to agree with A or B?"

Statement A: Citizens have the right to view and obtain information about how election officials count votes.
92% agree
Statement B: Citizens do not have the right to view and obtain information about how elections officials count votes.
6% agree
Neither/Not sure
2%

Eighty-six percent or more of people within every demographic group agrees with Statement A. This includes overwhelming majorities of Democrats (93%), Republicans (87%), and independents (97%). Furthermore, no more than 10% of people in any sub-group--with the sole exception of 18-29 year-olds (13%)--agree more with Statement B.

According to a public statement by Lehto, "With respect to every single demographic group from ultraconservative to progressive...the results are the same: At rock bottom, 86% of every single group supports the public's right to (1) observe vote counting and (2) obtain information regarding it. The average of all demographic groups is a whopping 92% support." These numbers, Lehto says, "are one of the greatest "shots in the arm" the election integrity movement could hope for."

SURVEY BOLSTERS LOCAL ELECTION REFORM EFFORTS

Election integrity advocates here in Humboldt County, CA, such as Dave Berman, co-founder of the Voter Confidence Committee, have steadily pressed exactly this point of emphasis. Positive developments include:

Adoption of the Voter Confidence Resolution by the Arcata City Council
Creation of the citizens' Election Advisory Committee
The commitment of Humboldt Registrar Carolyn Crnich to the "Humboldt Transparency Project"
The impending launch of a series of events on media accountability

"These nearly unanimous Zogby poll results should be a huge wake-up call," says Berman. "It is long past time our Board of Supervisors recognizes that the public sees this as a crisis on which they must act to change our election conditions. They can begin by replacing County Elections Manager Lindsey McWilliams with someone willing to admit that Diebold optical scanners are secret vote counting machines being rejected by the public."

For the past 18 months the Voter Confidence Committee has lobbied for hand counting the County's paper ballots to determine election results. On June 6, the day of California's most recent Primary Election, the Committee declared it would not recognize the results of any election where votes could not be verified. The group challenged local media not to report results that couldn't be proven and haven't been independently verified.

"Even the 1% manual audit required by the state to double check the machines," explains Berman, "can only detect a discrepancy in the vote totals about 50% of the time." See http://electiondefensealliance.org/hr550auditflaws for a detailed paper explaining the methodology for determining sufficient auditing protocols. The Election Defense Alliance recommends a manual audit of 10% in 100% of precincts.
# # #
Contact: Dave Berman
(707) 845-3749
info@voterconfidencecommittee.org
Press release archived at: http://www.voterconfidencecommittee.org/PressReleases/VCC_press_release_08_21_06.htm

Read Zogby's press release HERE.
See Zogby's actual cross-tabbed data HERE (.pdf)