Kucinich asks for New Hampshire recount in the interest of election integrity
DETROIT, MI – Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, the most outspoken advocate in the Presidential field
and in Congress for election integrity, paper-ballot elections, and campaign finance reform, has sent a letter to the
New Hampshire Secretary of State asking for a recount of Tuesday’s election because of “unexplained disparities between
hand-counted ballots and machine-counted ballots.”
“I am not making this request in the expectation that a recount will significantly affect the number of votes that were
cast on my behalf,” Kucinich stressed in a letter to Secretary of State William M. Gardner. But, “Serious and credible
reports, allegations, and rumors have surfaced in the past few days…It is imperative that these questions be addressed
in the interest of public confidence in the integrity of the election process and the election machinery – not just in
New Hampshire, but in every other state that conducts a primary election.”
Also, the reports, allegations, and rumors regarding possible vote-count irregularities have been further fueled by the
stunning disparities between various “independent” pre-election polls and the actual election results," Kucinich wrote.
"The integrity, credibility, and value of independent polling are separate issues, but they appear to be relevant in the
context of New Hampshire’s votes."
He added, “Ever since the 2000 election – and even before – the American people have been losing faith in the belief
that their votes were actually counted. This recount isn’t about who won 39% of 36% or even 1%. It’s about establishing
whether 100% of the voters had 100% of their votes counted exactly the way they cast them.”
Kucinich, who drew about 1.4% of the New Hampshire Democratic primary vote, wrote, “This is not about my candidacy or
any other individual candidacy. It is about the integrity of the election process.” No other Democratic candidate, he
noted, has stepped forward to question or pursue the claims being made.
“New Hampshire is in the unique position to address – and, if so determined, rectify – these issues before they escalate
into a massive, nationwide suspicion of the process by which Americans elect their President. Based on the controversies
surrounding the Presidential elections in 2004 and 2000, New Hampshire is in a prime position to investigate possible
irregularities and to issue findings for the benefit of the entire nation,” Kucinich wrote in his letter.
“Without an official recount, the voters of New Hampshire and the rest of the nation will never know whether there are
flaws in our electoral system that need to be identified and addressed at this relatively early point in the
Presidential nominating process,” said Kucinich, who is campaigning in Michigan this week in advance of next Tuesday’s
Presidential primary in that state.