[Voterescue] TX Primary Citizen Exit Polls: Huge Success!

[Vickie Karp]

For Immediate
Release                                                                                           
Contact:  Vickie Karp, 512/775-3737 Attn:  Political Assignments
Desk                                                                                            
Karen Renick, 512/496-7408 Citizen Exit Polls a Huge Success in Texas!                                          Voters
Willing to Sign Name to Questionnaire to Monitor the Election ! March 7,
2008, Austin, Texas Austin-based election integrity group VoteRescue
executed a highly successful Citizen Exit Poll in Travis and Williamson
Counties on Tuesday in order to monitor the "official" results tallied by
secret vote counting on electronic voting machines, both the screen-types
and the ballot scanners. The project was executed along with VoteRescue's
coalition, Texans for REAL Elections, and in coordination with a national
effort called "Project Vote Count" which originated in Florida by
activist Mark Adams.  Florida had high participation in the Exit Poll
project during their January 29th primary; Ohio also participated in the
Exit Poll effort on March 4th,  the same Primary day as Texas. Austin
area Exit Pollers secured 1566 Exit Poll Questionnaires in five
precincts:  Three in Travis County, and two in nearby Williamson County.
The respondent rate was very high, ranging from 21.3% up to
58%.  Respondents were willing to sign the questionnaires, which were
formatted to be used as affidavits if broad discrepencies were found
between Exit Poll results and official county results. The fact that
voters were willing to forego their secret ballot in order to make sure
their votes were accurately counted was a statement to VoteRescue and the
Coalition that people share their legitimate concerns and doubts about
the secret vote counting that occurs when they vote on a screen-type of
voting machine such as the Hart InterCivic E-Slate, or even when they
vote on a paper ballot, but that ballot is counted by the
computerized optical scan counting device such as the ES&S type used in
Williamson County, Texas.  Both types of voting equipment have been
decertified in three states during the last few months due to expert
studies showing the ease with which they can be hacked and vote totals
manipulated without detection:   California, Ohio, and Colorado.  While
our Citizen Exit Poll results cannot be released immediately, it can be
reported that some discrepencies were found in the numbers of two of the
five precincts polled.  The group is analyzing the data to determine if
such discrepencies are signicant enough to challenge the official
results. VoteRescue and its coalition have been working for years to
eliminate all electronic voting systems both statewide in Texas, and
nationally. The group supports a return to hand-counted paper ballot
elections, with enhanced security procedures, and citizens monitoring the
election and counting the votes in public view, then posting totals at
the precinct level.  The current system of corporate-controlled secret
vote counting in Texas does not even meet UN standards for election
integrity in third world nations.   # # #
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