Posted on 11/10/2004 5:07:30 AM PST by FreedomPoster
A confusing counting method employed by Cuyahoga County elections officials appears to inflate the vote totals in some suburbs, further fueling suspicion on the Internet about the integrity of Ohio's unofficial election results.
To a casual observer, Cuyahoga County seemed to have more votes than voters in some areas on Election Day - a 90,000-vote disparity being hyped in cyberspace under headlines such as "Stolen Election" and "Ohio Fraud."
The problem stems from an election canvassing report posted on the county's Web site, where the number of "ballots cast" in several suburbs exceeds the number of registered voters.
For example, the documents suggest that 13,939 ballots were cast in Beachwood, though only 9,943 voters are registered there.
But county officials say that's not how the data should be read. The "ballots cast" is not a reflection of the votes within a city's borders; the numbers also include votes in the congressional and legislative districts that overlap with the cities.
A disclaimer on the elections board's Web site warns viewers not to count up votes in a city based on the "ballots cast" column.
But that has not stopped an Internet-inspired chain-mail campaign that questions the validity of Ohio's presidential vote, where President Bush still holds an unofficial lead of 136,483 votes over Sen. John Kerry.
Cuyahoga officials said Tuesday they have received about 30 phone calls and a handful of e-mails from people curious about the discrepancy. Interest appeared to increase based on a chain of e-mails that sprouted from Texas, and a mention of the incongruous Cuyahoga County figures that aired on the MSNBC cable network Monday night.
"Is it a concern because we don't want it to get out of control? Yes," said Jane Platten, an administrator at the elections board.
Web surfers have discovered other problems in the Ohio results, most notably an error in one Franklin County precinct that added 3,893 extra votes for Bush.
Such mistakes should be corrected in the next few weeks, as the state's boards review and recount all of their ballots before arriving at a certified vote total. Included in those numbers will be the verified votes that are among the 155,000 provisional ballots cast in the state, and absentee ballots cast from overseas, which must arrive by Friday to be counted.
After the counties make their official count, the Secretary of State will then approve an official certified state total sometime around Dec. 3.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
shiaasen@plaind.com, 216-999-4927
That is quite deflating to the dems... hehe
Ohio ping
A few pings to folks on the other thread, which is here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1274956/posts
The disclaimer at the Cuyahoga County Board of Election's web site doesn't do it for me. If someone thinks it is valid, they need to step through an example. Otherwise, I'm still left thinking they're clueless/dishonest, or both.
Here's the Cuyahoga County Board of Election's web site:
http://boe.cuyahogacounty.us/BOE/results/currentresults1.htm
If there were an overcount in Beachwood, it would have benefitted Kerry. Beachwood is, oh, about 95% Jewish and liberal. Could be the snowbirds returning to skew the election.
It'll take more than that to stop 'em. Thinking rationally is not their strong suit.
Aside from Keith Olbermann, I think the Cincy Enquirer is also fueling the fraud/stolen fires. They were on his show on Monday night. Last night, he was talking to John Turley about if there was election fraud, and John Kerry won Ohio, how could Kerry legally become President. I was waiting for someone to pick these guys up and bring them to the institution, if you know what I mean.
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