Provisionally Certified Election Software Lawsuit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
"Provisionally" Certified Election Software Raises Questions in Thurston County Lawsuit

Olympia, WA. September 30, 2004. Yesterday, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Richard Strophy ruled in favor of J. Mills, Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate, and Ruth Bennett, Libertarian candidate for Washington State Governor. The two candidates will be placed on the ballot for the November general election.

In one of the plaintiffs' statements, they alleged that "certain irregularities related to improperly certified tabulation software within six counties using 'consolidated' ballots rendered unreliable results and adversely affected plaintiff's access to the general election ballot."

One of the bases of Judge Strophy's decision favoring the Libertarians was the uncertainty about the provisional software recently installed in the six counties.

"We have been warning Washington's election directors that the use of this software would open the state to valid election challenges," said John Gideon, Information Manager for VotersUnite!. "This ruling is yet another warning that precautions must be taken before the November election."

VotersUnite! and Concerned Citizens for Democratic Integrity are calling for the new, "provisionally" certified software to be replaced with the fully certified software immediately.

"Since the ballots have to be rebuilt now anyway, there's no reason not to restore the certified software and use it for the November election," Ellen Theisen, VotersUnite! Executive Director stated.

Members of the press are invited to visit the website, created by VotersUnite! and Concerned Citizens for Democratic Integrity in King County to inform the public about Washington's current use of election software without Federal certification and advocate for some assurance of the accuracy of November election results. ( http://www.electionintegrity.com).

VotersUnite! ( http://www.votersunite.org) is a national non-partisan organization dedicated to fair and accurate elections. It focuses on distributing well-researched information to elections officials, elected officials, the media, and the public; as well as providing activists with information they need to work toward transparent elections in their communities.

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John Gideon Information Manager www.votersunite.org

Contacts:
Ellen Theisen; ellen@votersunite.org
John Gideon; jgideon@votersunite.org

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