State (Alaska) to turn over voting files from 2004 to Democrats

[Blue_In_AK]

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/7434587p-7345457c.html (probably need a subscription to view)

By RACHEL D'ORO
The Associated Press

The state plans to turn over recently barred electronic voting files from the 2004 election to the Alaska Democratic Party, an official said Thursday. Elections director Whitney Brewster said officials expect to submit a proposed plan to the Democratic party by Monday, the agreed-upon deadline.

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The Division of Elections in late January rejected the party's request for the files, saying the data format belonged to a private company and could not be made public. But Diebold Election Systems Inc., which provided Alaska's electronic voting machines, agreed to waive propriety rights to the files, the North Canton, Ohio-based company said in a Jan. 31 letter to the division.

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In the Alaska election, Democrats point out, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, appeared to have received 226,992 votes in a district-by-district tally in her successful election bid. But official totals show Murkowski got only 149,446 votes. Brewster blamed the discrepancy on a faulty tabulating method. In 2004, the state allowed residents to cast their ballots as many as 15 days early at four regional centers. On election night, however, those votes were added in their entirety to results tabulated within each separate district -- which skewed the total numbers.

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Democrats contend the discrepancies go beyond early votes. There also were problems with absentee and questioned ballots, said Kay Brown, a spokeswoman with the Alaska Democratic Party. "Overall there are multiple errors in the presentation of the votes," Brown said. "We want to make sense of the numbers. The numbers do not add up. ... The public deserves clean, clear straightforward reports."

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