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http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=549Blackwell spokesman quietly blasts Conyers’ investigation
By John Byrne | RAW STORY Editor
In a terse, one line statement, the office of Republican Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell responded to a RAW STORY inquiry on the 102-page report on Ohio voting problems prepared by the Democratic staff of the House Judiciary Committee.
At first, Blackwell spokesman James Lee declined to comment on Conyers’ letters.
“I don’t really have any response to that at all,” Lee said.
But when asked whether the investigation–which documented myriad problems with Ohio’s voting processes that drew articles from the Washington Post and New York Times–had merit, Blackwell spokesman James Lee responded, “I think Rep. Conyers’ inquiry and motivation speaks for itself.”
Lee also attempted to clear up a comment Blackwell made to the Cincinnati Enquirer which caused some confusion, in which the Secretary of State said the state had “not one electronic voting device certified under Ohio’s standards and rules.”
What Blackwell meant, Lee asserted, was that the current electronic voting machines were not certified under new laws passed by the state assembly which require voter-verified paper trails.
“Under the new law for voting machines that will be used in 2006 those electronic voting machines will have to be equipped with voter verified paper trails,” he said.
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