Secretary of State - William M. Gardner
State House, Room 204, Concord, N.H. 03301
Phone: 603-271-3242 Fax: 603-271-6316
Email: Elections@sos.state.nh.us
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My email to Mr. Gardner:
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Dear Mr. Gardner,
I am writing to express my concern about the results of the Presidential primary election that took place on 1.8.08, and to urge you to conduct a full hand-counted recount of the state to determine if the optical scanners counted the votes properly.
Every pre-election poll, and exit polls as well, showed different results from what the Diebold scanners counted.
This highly irregular discrepancy can easily be checked by comparing a hand count to the machine count.
Without a hand count, the American people can only wonder if the Diebold scanners counted properly.
Many independent studies such as the Brennan Report (
http://brennancenter.org/dynamic/subpages/download_file_36340.pdf) strongly recommend random audits on the optical scanners. Since New Hampshire has no such random audit, we can only wonder if the votes were counted properly -- UNLESS you conduct a recount. Then and only then can we have confidence that the people of New Hampshire actually voted the way the machines reported.
As New Hampshire plays a pivital role determining the party's candidate, it is imperative that the American people have confidence in the state's election system and the results reported by the Diebold machines.
Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich has written to you to request a recount. I join him and urge you to assure that the paper ballots are preserved and to conduct a recount at the soonest date possible.
If the recount proves the machines correct, this will erase people's doubts. If it shows otherwise, our very democracy is at stake.
With concern,
Gary Beckwith
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Anyone care to join me in writing to Mr. Gardner?
And if there are any soccer players out there, give this a kick!