Free & Fair Elections Americans Concerned About New poll shows more than 60% have heard news UTICA, New York – A majority of Americans – 61% – are aware of news reports of flaws in electronic voting machines and want members of the general public to be able to watch votes be counted following an election, a new Zogby International poll shows. The telephone survey of 1,018 likely voters was conducted Aug. 11–15, 2006. It carries amargin of error of +/– 3.1 percentage points. Asked whether Americans have the right to view and obtain information about how elections officials count votes, 92% of respondents concurred" The 92% support for the public's right to view vote counting and obtain information about it is a very strong political value of transparency and against secret vote counting outside the observation of the public," said Paul Lehto, a lawyer and sponsor of the survey. "To put this figure in context, support for election transparency exceeds the support for tax cuts, exceeds the approval of Pres. Bush immediately after 9-11, and virtually all other political values being measured." Mr. Lehto is counsel in the 50th Congressional District election contest in California. Most of those surveyed – 80% – said they want votes to be counted in front of observers representing the public, and that elections officials should not rely solely on the proprietary software that operates electronic voting machines that are presently being installed all over the United States. In some models, the electronic machines tabulate votes cast on that machine and saves them to a computer memory card. Results from those cards are then added together to obtain results of an election. ### For a complete methodological statement on this poll, please go to: For Immediate Release Date: Aug. 23, 2006 Zogby International Polling/Market ResearchPublic Relations Services Marketing Strategies Publishers of Zogby's Real America Newsletter.
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