US Congress to investigate irregularities in November 2 vote
46 minutes ago Politics - AFP
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Government Accountability Office, the investigating arm of the US Congress, will probe allegations of irregularities in the November 2 US presidential vote, lawmakers said.
"We are pleased that the GAO has reviewed the concerns expressed in our letters and has found them of sufficient merit to warrant further investigation. On its own authority, the GAO will examine the security and accuracy of voting technologies, distribution and allocation of voting machines, and counting of provisional ballots," five Democratic lawmakers, who requested the inquiry, said in a statement.
"We are hopeful that GAO's non-partisan and expert analysis will get to the bottom of the flaws uncovered in the 2004 election," added representatives John Conyers Jr., Jerrold Nadler, Robert Wexler, Robert Scott, and Rush Holt.
The lawmakers said the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee (news - web sites) has received some 57,000 complaints of voting irregularities.
US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) has claimed victory in the vote after winning sufficient Electoral College (news - web sites) votes to be re-elected, and his Republican party enlarged its majorities in both houses of Congress.
His defeated Democratic opponent, Senator John Kerry (news - web sites), endorsed the investigation.
"I will fight for a national standard for federal elections that has both transparency and accountability in our voting system. It's unacceptable in the United States that people still don't have full confidence in the integrity of the voting process," Kerry said.
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