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MATULKA FOR SENATE COMMITTEE
916 NORTH 21ST STREET
BEATRICE, NE 68310

December 10, 2002

Mr. John Gale
Nebraska Secretary of State
State Capitol
Lincoln, Nebraska 68509

Dear Secretary Gale:

Per provision of Nebraska statute 32-1121, I request a hand re-count of the vote for the official election record for the office of United States Senate that were cast in the November 5, 2002 general election in all of the Nebraska counties that used any mechanical, electric, and/or computer device to count ballots. In addition, if any precincts used mechanical, electric, and/or computer device to cast ballots, I request a re-vote in those counties.

In variance with referenced Nebraska statute 32-1119 stating that recounted ballots shall be first counted with a vote counting device in those counties having such a device, I request instead a manual recount of all ballots in those counties to assure a properly tabulated vote count for the official election record.

I am requesting a manual recount for public audit for this 2002 election for a host of major problems were reported by the news and print media. In Sarpy County, the third largest county, there were programming errors, computer glitches, and printing errors. A major election day problem was also reported in Adams County where the vote didn't get counted for a full two days after the election. In addition, we can and will provide three (3) eyewitness accounts from Douglas and Lancaster Counties, Nebraska's largest voting counties. Overall, private ownership of voting machines, including proprietary software programming, has a strong potential for vote manipulation.

Inasmuch as the proper tabulation of votes is an integral part of the election process, the costs assessed by the counties for conducting the manual recounts shall be resolved per my candidate filing affidavit (per Nebraska statute 25-2301) to file for elective office in forma pauperis per Nebraska statute 32-608 (5).

Under existing federal case law, citizens have a right to have their votes cast and counted "properly."

The use of mechanical, electric, and/or computer devices that by their very design and structure "conceal" vote casting and/or counting and therefore cannot be observed to ensure accuracy, is an apparent violation of the following:

Although, to our knowledge, Federal Observers were not sent by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to Nebraska to ensure a properly conducted election, it would not have made any material difference if they had been sent. It has come to our attention that although Federal Observers are authorized under 1973f, "for the purpose of observing whether votes cast by persons entitled to vote are being properly tabulated," this cannot be physically accomplished (as mentioned above) and is not taking place regardless. Ms. Nelldean Monroe is the Voting Rights Program Administrator for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). OPM is responsible for the recruiting and training of Federal Observers who are sent by the DOJ to monitor elections if violations of the Voting Rights Act are suspected. In an interview with freelance journalist Lynn Landes, Monroe said that Federal Observers were not trained to observe voting machines nor could any training accomplish that end. (see Attachment 1). She elaborated in an e-mail dated Nov. 21, 2002, "The only observance of the tallying of the votes is when DOJ specifically requests observers to do so. This rarely occurs, but when it does, it is most often during the day following the election when a County conducts a canvass of challenged or rejected ballots. In this case, Federal observers may observe the County representatives as they make determinations on whether to accept a challenged or rejected ballot. Federal observers may also observe the counting of the ballots (or vote tallying) when paper ballots are used." (see Attachment 2)

Ms. Monroe's statement bears repeating..."Federal observers may also observe the counting of the ballots (or vote tallying) when paper ballots are used."  In effect, we believe that she is saying that machine tallying devices are not observable, which makes the role of the Federal Observer moot, and consequently the Voting Rights Act unenforceable.

I am exercising my constitutional right to an election and voting process in which citizens have a right to have their votes cast and counted "properly" and with respect to the above captioned matter, but not limited on any litigation, future, filing, or appeals.

Sincerely,

Charlie Matulka
Ph. (402) 228-1009

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