Cobb Calls For Public Inspection of Voting Machine Companies

Columbus, OH —  Saying that "public involvement and oversight in the voting process is essential," 2004 Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb today sent letters to the heads of the nine major voting machine companies in the U.S., demanding "accountability and transparency." "As an American citizen and a recent presidential candidate, I want to have faith in the vote counting process. Unfortunately, with more than 50,000 documented instances of irregularities in the past election, I am unable to trust either the vote counting process or its results without an open, accountable and independent method of public verification," Cobb wrote in his letter.

In his letter, Cobb said that a number of steps "must be taken immediately to restore faith in our elections and the winners that they produce. These steps must include: having a paper ballot for each vote cast, independent analysis of voting machine software and hardware, open software source code, no contributions from voting companies to candidates for public office, no networking of machines, and the public dissemination of all relevant voting data and documents."

These specific demands have been endorsed by a number of voting rights organizations including Velvet Revolution and by Congressman John Conyers.

To send an email message to the voting machine companies in support of electoral transparency and accountability, go to www.velvetrevolution.us/.

For more information on electoral reform and the status of litigation concerning the Ohio and New Mexico presidential recounts, visit www.votecobb.org. The website for the national Green Party is www.gp.org.