Source:
The following letter, issued by Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich), calls on the five major television networks and the
Associated Press to release the raw exit poll data from the 2004 presidential election. The letter below, acquired by RAW STORY late this afternoon, is a facsimile; the congressman's office said an actual image of the letter will not be released
until Wednesday.
The letter was sent to: Anne Sweeney, Co-Chairman, Media Networks, The Walt Disney Company and President, Disney-ABC
Television Group; Bob Wright, President, NBC; Gail Berman, President, FOX; Jim Walton President, CNN; Thomas Curley,
President, Associated Press; and Andrew Heyward, President, CBS.
"As you are aware, the American citizenry has voiced a collective lack of faith in government to carry out fair election
procedures," Conyers writes. "It is important that the Judiciary Committee access raw voter poll data so that
discrepancies between those numbers and certified election results can be investigated...Without the raw data, the
Committee will be severely handicapped in its efforts to show the need for serious election reform in the United
States."
****** TRANSCRIPT ******
I write to request the raw exit poll data from the 2004 November presidential election that you purchased from Mitofsky
International and Edison Media Research. I have requested this data from Mitofsky International and Edison Media
directly; however those companies claim a proprietary interest in voter tallies, and I have not been able to persuade
them to share this information with the Judiciary Committee.
As you are aware, the American citizenry has voiced a collective lack of faith in government to carry out fair election
procedures. It is important that the Judiciary Committee access raw voter poll data so that discrepancies between those
numbers and certified election results can be investigated. The data may eveidence instances of voting irregularities
that occurred as the result of poor election practices and intentional voter disenfranchisement. Without the raw data,
the Committee will be severely handicapped in its efforts to show the need for serious election reform in the United
States.
For these reasons, I ask that you share this information with the Committee. We are happy to honour any confidentiality
restrictions you may need to place on this data. Thankyou for your attention to this matter. If you would like to
discuss this further please contact Perry Apelbaum or Ted Kao of the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff at (202)
225-6504.
Sincerely,
John Conyers, Jr.
Ranking Member
House Committee on the Judiciary
Cc: Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.
****** TRANSCRIPT ENDS ******