Related To Story |
Panel Reviewing May Primary Looks For Accountability
Preliminary Report Of Botched Election Makes No Conclusions
POSTED: 12:33 pm EDT June 19,
2006
CLEVELAND -- A review panel is running short on time as it tries to figure out what went wrong in Cuyahoga County's May 2 primary election.The panel had 60 days to figure it out, and it's about halfway there with the July 17 due date quickly approaching, reported NewsChannel5's Carolina Leid.The panel released its initial report Monday at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. No findings have been released yet, but the panel laid out what methods it is using to get the job done.They are taking into account public hearings, voter exit polls, interviews and media reports. "Accountability is central to this investigation," the three-member investigative panel appointed by the Cuyahoga County elections board said in a 38-page report, which reached no conclusions and made no recommendations.NewsChannel5 reported that has to get done before the upcoming gubernatorial election so that the county doesn't see such an Election Day debacle again.The May 2 primary was the first time most county voters were required to cast their ballots electronically. Poll workers didn't show up, there were problems with electronic voting, and it took about a week to complete the unofficial vote count.A group of graduate and law students are working with county Judge Ronald Adrine to figure out what went wrong.Adrine said he is confident this will get hammered out."The difference between this country and many others around the word is that the votes do count. We're going to fix this and when I say we, I'm talking about the folks who have responsibility," said Adrine.The board of elections is also considering posting unofficial voter count to the public at each precinct throughout Election Day.
Copyright 2006 by NewsNet5. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.











