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Bob,
In your recent article entitled "Did George W. Bush Steal America's 2004 Election?", you said:
"Serious questions have erupted in New Mexico, where every precinct that used electronic scanning devices went for Bush, no matter what its demographic make-up or party proclivities. As Kerry noted in a conference call involving Jackson, Fitrakis and Arneback, it was not the Democrat or Republican, Hispanic or Anglo, rich or poor make-up of a precinct that decided the outcome in New Mexico, it was the presence of opti-scan vote counters."
This is not true. Warren Stewart and analyzed the NM data and wrote a detailed report. We often found that the opscan percentages were higher for Kerry than the DRE percentages in counties that used both -- sometimes up to 25% higher or more. I still have all the certified election data. After I read your statement, I decided to check the counties that used only opscan and found that, while many more precincts did go for Bush, there were quite a few that went for Kerry:
Precinct 8 in Roosevelt County.
Precincts 7, 8, 11, and 12 in Quay County
Precincts 4, 7, 8, 9 and 12 in Luna County
Precincts 8-13, 16, and 17 in Los Alamos County
Precincts 2 and 3 in Hidalgo County
Precincts 2, 10-15, 23 and 32 in Eddy County and a few in Curry County.
I wonder if the preponderance of Bush precincts in fully opscan counties could be explained by the type of county. We often see rural counties going for Bush and often they have opscans rather than DREs. If so, that's a reasonable explanation.
Of course, it's possible that votes were shaved and changed in NM, but I don't see any evidence that it was done on the optical scanners. In fact the data suggests that, if it happened, it happened on the DREs.
Regards,
Ellen Theisen
In your recent article entitled "Did George W. Bush Steal America's 2004 Election?", you said:
"Serious questions have erupted in New Mexico, where every precinct that used electronic scanning devices went for Bush, no matter what its demographic make-up or party proclivities. As Kerry noted in a conference call involving Jackson, Fitrakis and Arneback, it was not the Democrat or Republican, Hispanic or Anglo, rich or poor make-up of a precinct that decided the outcome in New Mexico, it was the presence of opti-scan vote counters."
This is not true. Warren Stewart and analyzed the NM data and wrote a detailed report. We often found that the opscan percentages were higher for Kerry than the DRE percentages in counties that used both -- sometimes up to 25% higher or more. I still have all the certified election data. After I read your statement, I decided to check the counties that used only opscan and found that, while many more precincts did go for Bush, there were quite a few that went for Kerry:
Precinct 8 in Roosevelt County.
Precincts 7, 8, 11, and 12 in Quay County
Precincts 4, 7, 8, 9 and 12 in Luna County
Precincts 8-13, 16, and 17 in Los Alamos County
Precincts 2 and 3 in Hidalgo County
Precincts 2, 10-15, 23 and 32 in Eddy County and a few in Curry County.
I wonder if the preponderance of Bush precincts in fully opscan counties could be explained by the type of county. We often see rural counties going for Bush and often they have opscans rather than DREs. If so, that's a reasonable explanation.
Of course, it's possible that votes were shaved and changed in NM, but I don't see any evidence that it was done on the optical scanners. In fact the data suggests that, if it happened, it happened on the DREs.
Regards,
Ellen Theisen