Here is the letter written by Timothy Kettler, Green Party member and vote recount witness, to the Coshocton BOE and to 3 newspapers, 4 radios, 2 TV stations.
Note the found votes are pretty equal: Kerry 534 to Bush 549. (Edited for math error) Even more important is the % of folks who would have been disenfranchised without the recount (6.25%). The BOE apparently distributed vote totals purporting to be the November 2 totals, but which, in fact, were not the totals certified by Blackwell on the 6th. In addition, there were security lapses that were very problematic.
I will leave it up to you to speculate on where the additional 1079 new votes came from.
December 19, 2004
Coshocton County Board of Election
724 South Seventh Street
Coshocton, Ohio 43812
To the Board,
I am writing this letter as a registered voter and concerned citizen of Coshocton County, as well as a Cobb witness in the recent recount of the Presidential vote, December 14, 2004. I appreciate the professionalism and public service of Director Mary Fry and Deputy Director Kathy Hendricks. The recount was demanding, both mentally and physically, and they both conducted their duties in commendable fashion. They were successful in performing their non-partisan duties in an obviously partisan atmosphere. Thank you Mary and Kathy.
My first question is; Why were vote totals distributed to the witnesses in a manner to suggest they were the vote totals certified by the Secretary of State on December 6, 2004?
These totals were contained in a document headed "Official-Nov. 2, 2004" and dated 12/10/2004. And were not, in fact, the vote totals certified by Kenneth Blackwell on December 6, 2004.
The vote totals that were distributed to witnesses on December 14, 2004, and contained in a document headed " Official-Nov. 2, 2004, and dated 12/10/2004, are as follows:
Bush 9,839
Kerry 7,378
Peroutka 68
Badnarik 15
Schriner 2
Cobb 1
Total Presidential vote 17,300
The vote totals determined as final through the hand recount of all precincts was:
Bush 9,826
Kerry 7,412
Peroutka 68
Badnarik 13
Schriner 2
Cobb 1
Total Presidential vote 17,321
The vote totals as certified by Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell on December 6, 2004:
Bush 9,277
Kerry 6,878
Peroutka 67
Badnarik 17
Schriner 2
Cobb 1
Total Presidential vote 16,242
As one can see, a total vote count discrepancy of 1,079 votes was determined by the full hand recount. This is a substantial number of votes, and resulted in 6.25 percent of all Presidential votes cast in Coshocton County on November 2, 2004 failing to be counted when the vote was certified on December 6, 2004. I recognize that all involved parties in the recount, Board members, Board employees and candidate witnesses all desire and expect fair, accurate and secure elections. Obviously you are as concerned as I about these disturbing facts and events.
I would like to ask the board to address the confusion around the vote totals that were distributed to witnesses in the document headed "Official-Nov.2, 2004. When were these vote totals generated and why? Were ballots handled and counted after the December 6, 2004 certification, and prior to the December 14, 2004 recount? Were these ballots temporarily "lost" in handling/storage and later "found"? Did the optical scan tabulating equipment fail to accurately count the votes? The directive issued by Secretary of State Blackwell specifies that an initial three percent hand count of the total vote, with full precincts being counted, would take place. Those ballots would then be tabulated using (in this case) the optical scan equipment, and if tabulation produced no discrepancy, then the total vote would be optically scanned and those totals would be the certified totals. Why did the Board of Elections elect to proceed directly to the full hand count?
In my capacity as Regional Coordinator for the Green Party effort to recount the Ohio Presidential vote, I have become acquainted with a variety of established security procedures employed by neighboring counties. They include some very effective measures that incorporate sealed metal ballot containers, tightly controlled office security, detailed logs of ballot handling, transfer and counting, as well as oversight and participation of the sheriff's department whenever access to ballots is necessary. During the recount process on December 14, 2004, witnesses observed partially open unsealed boxes of ballots, as well as blank ballots stored with the ballots of Precinct 2A. Would the board give a brief overview of their security procedures? Does the board feel that their security procedures are adequate?
There is overall consensus today that voter confidence is at an all time low. The recount effort is intended to examine the process at it's foundation; the collection, tabulation, and protection of the integrity of the vote. The misleading action of providing witnesses with irrelevant vote totals, the miscounting of the Presidential vote, resulting in the disenfranchisement of 6.25% of the county's voters, and the lack of oversight and security that possibly allowed the handling and counting of votes, without witness, prior to the scheduled recount, is cause for great concern and we ask that it be immediately addressed.
The recount effort was met with disdain and negativity in many quarters, and the counting area of the Coshocton BoE on December 14, was no different. However, without the recount, a full 6.25%, 1079 voters of Coshocton County, would not have been heard on November 2, 2004. Mr. Grewe, on December 18, 2004, you expressed your appreciation for the effort and volunteerism of those citizens who helped recount the votes. Frankly sir, I believe the voters of Coshocton County owe a big "Thank You" to David Cobb and the Green Party for working tirelessly to protect the integrity of their votes.
Respectfully,
Timothy J. Kettler
I think this section says it all. We all need to know that our vote counts. Not only fraud, but incompetence can be robbing our votes.