Common Cause sponsors in-depth look at the 2004 Vote

The 2004 Vote: What Really Happened?

Experts to Provide a Report to the Nation

Getting past rumor and innuendo

For Immediate Release Dec. 1, 2004

Common Cause Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Press Release

Contact:Mary Boyle, Common Cause, (202) 736-5770

Ed Rothschild, LCCR, (202) 879-9317

Christy Hicks, The Century Foundation, (212) 452-7723

Rumors of nefarious election activities and tales of disenfranchised voters still swirl around the Internet, nearly a month after the presidential election. Election Day revealed problems in our voting systems, including registration issues, timely provision of absentee ballots, the reliability of voting machines, inadequate numbers of poll workers and efforts to intimidate voters and suppress turnout.

On Tuesday, Dec. 7, Common Cause, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and The Century Foundation will conduct a non-partisan in-depth look at voting in America that will reveal exactly what happened on Election Day. The organizations will sponsor: “Voting in 2004: Report to the Nation on America’s Election Process,” featuring voting experts, state and federal officials and organizations that had workers on the ground on Election Day, observing and collecting information.

WHAT: Voting in 2004: A Report to the Nation on America’s Election Process

WHERE: G-50 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington DC

WHEN: Tuesday, Dec. 7, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

KEY SPEAKERS AND HONORARY CO-CHAIRS: Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) (represented by a written statement), Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ)

OTHER FEATURED SPEAKERS: Barbara Arnwine, executive director, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, Jehmu Greene, president, Rock the Vote, Wade Henderson, executive director, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Ralph Neas, president, People for the American Way, Leslie Reynolds, executive director of the National Association of Secretaries of State.

PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS: American Civil Liberties Union, American Families United, the Brennan Center for Justice, Demos, Electionline.org,

George Washington School of Law, Johns Hopkins University, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, National Association of Secretaries of State, Rock the Vote, The Advancement Project and Verified Voting,