[Texgreen] Citizen Exit Polls A Huge Success In Texas

[Margaret]

Citizen Exit Polls A Huge Success In Texas
Voters Willing to Sign Name to Questionnaire to Monitor the Election
>From Vickie Karp, Vote Rescue
www.voterescue.org
3-7-08

AUSTIN, Texas -- Austin-based election integrity group VoteRescue
executed a highly successful Citizen Exit Poll in Travis and
Williamson Counties on Tuesday in order to monitor the "official"
results tallied by secret vote counting on electronic voting machines,
both the screen-types and the ballot scanners.

The project was executed along with VoteRescue's coalition, Texans for
REAL Elections, and in coordination with a national effort called
"Project Vote Count" which originated in Florida by activist Mark
Adams. Florida had high participation in the Exit Poll project during
their January 29th primary; Ohio also participated in the Exit Poll
effort on March 4th, the same Primary day as Texas.

Austin area Exit Pollers secured 1,566 Exit Poll Questionnaires in
five precincts: three in Travis County, and two in nearby Williamson
County. The respondent rate was very high, ranging from 21.3% up to
58%. Respondents were willing to sign the questionnaires, which were
formatted to be used as affidavits if broad discrepencies were found
between Exit Poll results and official county results.

The fact that voters were willing to forego their secret ballot in
order to make sure their votes were accurately counted was a statement
to VoteRescue and the Coalition that people share their legitimate
concerns and doubts about the secret vote counting that occurs when
they vote on a screen-type of voting machine such as the Hart
InterCivic E-Slate, or even when they vote on a paper ballot, but that
ballot is counted by the computerized optical scan counting device
such as the ES&S type used in Williamson County, Texas. Both types of
voting equipment have been decertified in three states during the last
few months due to expert studies showing the ease with which they can
be hacked and vote totals manipulated without detection: California,
Ohio, and Colorado.

While our Citizen Exit Poll results cannot be released immediately, it
can be reported that some discrepencies were found in the numbers of
two of the five precincts polled. The group is analyzing the data to
determine if such discrepencies are signicant enough to challenge the
official results.

VoteRescue and its coalition have been working for years to eliminate
all electronic voting systems both statewide in Texas, and nationally.
The group supports a return to hand-counted paper ballot elections,
with enhanced security procedures, and citizens monitoring the
election and counting the votes in public view, then posting totals at
the precinct level. The current system of corporate-controlled secret
vote counting in Texas does not even meet UN standards for election
integrity in third world nations.

Vickie Karp - 512-775-3737
Political Assignments Desk
Karen Renick - 512-496-7408