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Nov 12, 2004 -
Stating that "the Nader/Camejo campaign does not view the election to be over merely because concession speeches... have been delivered," the third party candidates’ organization announced they had been granted their request for a recount in some New Hampshire counties.
"A hand recount will either rule out the possibility of machine error or show a discrepancy in the Diebold machine and the actual vote-- either way voters need to know," said Ralph Nader, who ran for president as an independent. "Regardless of whether it changes the electoral outcome, the Democrats should join us in this effort and follow through on their repeated promises to make sure every vote is counted-- in Ohio and other states."
The Nader/Camejo campaign first sent its request to New Hampshire officials on November 5, but it was initially rejected because it was not accompanied by a check to cover the costs of the recount. The campaign has since wired the $2,000, and a spokesperson told United Press International thata recount has been grantedin eleven counties.
The campaign says it asked for a recount because it received "more than 2,000 faxes from citizens concerned about the vote count who urged the campaign to request a hand recount in New Hampshire"
"These irregularities," claimed the campaign, "favor President George W. Bush by 5 percentto 15 percentover what was expected. Problems in these electronic voting machines and optical scanners are being reported in machines in a variety of states."
In a press statement, Nader said a hand recount "will either rule out the possibility of machine error or show a discrepancy [between] the Diebold machine and the actual vote-- either way voters need to know."
He added, "Regardless of whether it changes the electoral outcome, the Democrats should join us in this effort and follow through on their repeated promises to make sure every vote is counted-- in Ohio and other states."
Nader was also critical of the privatization of elections management. "Turning over the counting of votes to corporations gives new meaning to the term ‘corporate power,’" he said. "Three or four proprietary corporations being given the authority to count the vote on trade secreted software undermines the transparency of elections."
