We've received so many emails from readers concerned about the legitimacy of the election and the stories circulating online about potential fraud, especially in Ohio and Florida. Salon's Farhad Manjoo looked at all of the reports and rumors, and in today's cover story concludes that while the election was most certainly and unacceptably flawed, as it stands, there is no evidence that proves John Kerry actually won or that Bush stole it. That doesn't mean we shouldn't be gravely concerned about how elections are run in the United States -- the malfunctioning machines and long lines, especially, must be addressed before we go to the polls again. Voter intimidation and hijinx by partisan election officials just shouldn't happen. The Government Accountability Office is set to investigate e-voting, and their findings and those of activists monitoring voting irregularities should be heeded and used to fix what's wrong.
Meanwhile, Ralph Nader is also getting active on this issue, and focusing on New Hampshire, where Kerry won by one percent -- exactly the percentage of votes Nader received there. Nader wants a manual recount in New Hampshire "because of reports of anomalies favoring President Bush in towns that used the Diebold AccuVote optical scan machines," according to a statement on his Web site. "A hand recount will either rule out the possibility of machine error or show a discrepancy in the Diebold machine and the actual vote -- either way voters need to know." Nader is holding a press conference at 1 p.m. ET in Washington, D.C., to focus on voting problems from Election Day.
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