November 19, 2004

The Honorable David M. Walker

Comptroller General

United States Government Accountability Office

441 G Street, NW

Washington, D.C. 20548

Dear Mr. Walker:

I am very concerned about widespread reports of voting irregularities in the 2004 election. Therefore, I am writing to join other members of

Congress to urge the Government Accountability Office to immediately undertake an investigation that considers the efficacy of electronic voting machines, how election officials responded to the difficulties encountered and what we need to do to improve our election systems and administration.

The reported problems include over counting votes, confusion over casting provisional ballots, lost votes and long lines due to an inadequate number of voting machines. A sampling of complaints includes:

- Columbus, Ohio, where an electronic voting system reported that President Bush received 4,258 votes while Senator Kerry received 260 votes in a precinct where records show only 638 voters cast ballots;

- North Carolina, where a machine in Carteret County lost more than 4,500 votes due to a mistaken assumption about the memory capacity of a computer and;

- Youngstown, Ohio, and South Florida, where numerous voters complained that when they tried to cast votes for Senator Kerry, the machines instead recorded their votes for President Bush.

There is concern that much of the evidence needed to evaluate these reports will not be preserved without immediate action. I urge you to take action quickly to help restore confidence in our nation's election systems.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this inquiry.

Sincerely,

MIKE THOMPSON

Member of Congress

http://www.mikethompson.house.gov