funded Democratic Presidential campaign in history. We have been able to ascertain no

answer to the question of how an underfunded Democratic State Supreme Court candidate could

receive such a disproportionately large number of votes in Butler County over the Kerry-

Edwards ticket. This raises the possibility that thousands votes for Senator Kerry were lost,

either through manipulation or mistake. The loss of these votes would likely violate

constitutional protections of equal protection and due process; if manipulation is involved, that

would also violate the Voting Rights Act and Ohio election law.241 This anomaly calls for an

investigation, which Mr. Blackwell has failed to initiate.

Cuyahoga County ­ Palm Beach County for Pat Buchanan-Redux?

It has been well documented that a flawed Palm Beach County ballot design in the 2000

Florida Presidential election may well have cost Al Gore thousands of votes, by misrecording

such votes as votes for Pat Buchanan.242 A similar problem may well have occurred in Cleveland

in 2004.

Precincts in Cleveland have reported an incredibly high number of votes for third party

candidates who have historically received only a handful of votes from these urban areas. For

example, precinct 4F in the 4th Ward cast 290 votes for Kerry, 21 for Bush, and 215 for

Constitution Party candidate Michael Peroutka.243 In 2000, the same precinct cast less than 8

voters for all third party candidates combined.244 This pattern is found in at least 10 precincts

could you provide us with the results of your examination? Is there any precedent in Ohio

for a downballot candidate receiving on a percentage or absolute basis so many more

votes that the presidential candidate of the same party in this or any other presidential

election? Please let us know if any other County in Ohio registered such a disparity on a

percentage or absolute basis.

The following provisions of Ohio Revised Code prohibit ballot tampering: § 3599.24

(destructive of property used in elections); § 3599.27 (tampering with voting machines or vote

tabulators); §3599.33 (fraudulent writing on ballots or election records); §3599.34 (destruction or

alteration of records).

Newspaper: Butterfly Ballot Cost Gore White House, http://www.CNN.com; Mar. 11,

Juan Gonzalez, Ohio Tally Fit for Ukraine, N.Y. DA I L Y NE W S, Nov. 30, 2004.

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