Election results are only as reliable as the machines that record the votes.
Woody Jenkins of Baton Rouge, Louisiana attributes his loss last year in a closely fought race for the U.S. Senate to massive vote fraud concentrated in New Orleans, the hometown of his Democratic opponent, Mary Landrieu. Republican Jenkins charges that the bogus balloting in the Big Easy "could never have occurred without the active complicity of a large number of election commissioners," the very persons entrusted to guarantee an honest election. Election commissioners are implicated in cases of multiple voting, and numerous other violations.
Jenkins charges that some election commissioners told Democratic voters that they "could not vote for Republicans." He complains that his opponent's campaign literature was "displayed on tables in some polling places" in clear violation of the law, that some commissioners "provided assistance [in the voting booth] to voters who were not entitled to assistance," and that other commissioners entered the voting booths and "voted in place of the voter."
Voting machine "malfunctions" were also wide-spread and may have contributed to Jenkins' defeat. In some precincts, voters attempting to cast their ballots for Jenkins discovered that the appropriate lever would not function. In other precincts, the machines recorded votes for Jenkins as votes for Landrieu.
Citing these irregularities, and evidence of massive vote fraud in New Orleans, Jenkins petitioned the U.S. Senate to declare him the rightful winner, or call for a new election. In his petition, Jenkins stressed that "the sanctity of elections depends on the security of the voting machines and precinct registers. On election night," he observes, explaining the procedure in Louisiana, "the machines are to be locked with the sealed precinct registers inside. They are not to be unlocked or opened until three days later . . . in the presence of the candidates or their representatives."
Jenkins charges that "these statutory requirements were not followed" in New Orleans. Precinct registers were left unsealed, and voting machines were opened before the specified time and in the absence of Jenkins' representatives. Failure to seal the precinct registers is "a grave violation of the security of the election process," says Jenkins. Opening the voting machines early is "an even greater violation of law. If some unscrupulous person or persons had access to the precinct registers and the poll lists," he explains, "they could cover up even massive fraud."
Woody Jenkins points out that some of the electronic voting machines used in Louisiana provide additional opportunity for fraud. "The electronic counting can be rigged before, during, and after the voting," he observes. Proving electronic vote fraud in the November election may be impossible. "Federal law requires that election results be maintained for 22 months following all federal elections," Jenkins observes. "However, it appears that in December 1996 the commissioner of elections purged the results of the Senate race from most of the [electronic] voting machines in the state. On that basis alone," says Jenkins, "the Senate may have to conclude that the election results may not be verifiable."
