Election Day version these large discrepancies is no longer publically available; only the

recalibrated numbers are available on the Internet. An independent, detailed analysis of the early

exit poll data is necessary to verify the actual outcome of the vote in Ohio, and thus restore

complete legitimacy to this election.370 In any event, the discrepancies that we are able to

identify place the entire Ohio election results under a cloud of uncertainty.

C.

1.

Confusion in Counting Provisional Ballots

Secretary Blackwell's failure to issue standards for the counting of provisional ballots led

to a chaotic and confusing result such that each of Ohio's 88 counties could count legal ballots

differently or not at all.371 In turn, this fostered a situation where subsequent to the election,

Cuyahoga County mandated that provisional ballots in yellow packets must be "rejected" if there

is no "date of birth" on the packet. This ruling was issued despite the fact that the original

"Provisional Verification Procedure" from Cuyahoga County stated, "Date of birth is not

mandatory and should not reject a provisional ballot" and simply required that the voter's name,

address and a signature match the signature in the county's database.372 The People for the

American Way Foundation sought a legal ruling ordering Secretary Blackwell and the county

elections board to compare paper registration and electronic registration records.373 People For

the American Way further asked the Board to notify each voter whose ballot was invalidated and

how the invalidation could be challenged.374 Neither of these actions were taken.

See Freeman supra at 3.

(Dec. 8, 2004) (testimony of Shawnta Walcott, Communications Director, Zogby International at

84) ("this election has produced unprecedented levels of suspicion regarding its outcome"). Id.

at 86 ("We have received thousands of letters and phone calls regarding these irregularities,

many of which center on early exit polling results that were uncharacteristically inaccurate in

several battleground states; questionable practices at polling stations that may have resulted in

votes not being counted accurately, and in Ohio, as with other swing states, the automated

Diebold machines were particularly disturbing.").

Mark Niquette, Lawsuits Focus on Provisional Ballots, CO L U M B U S DI SPA TC H , Nov. 3,

2004, at 9A.

Bob Fitrakis, And So the Sorting and Discarding of Kerry Votes Begins, TH E FR E E

PR E S S, Nov. 10, 2004.

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