WASHINGTON

GROUP CITES ELECTRONIC VOTING PROBLEMS, URGES REFORMS

The record use of electronic voting machines on November 2 led to hundreds of voting irregularities and shows the need for higher standards, a voting rights group said yesterday.

The companies that make the electronic machines said their equipment was reliable and had relatively few problems considering the millions who cast their ballots.

The Election Verification Project reviewed nearly 900 reports of electronic voting problems on Election Day, ranging from lost votes in North Carolina to miscounted votes in Ohio and breakdowns in New Orleans that caused long lines and shut down polling places.

“The documented problems with touch-screen machines, vote-counting irregularities, and the fact that votes cannot be verified or recounted show us how vulnerable our democracy will be in the future when there are disputed or unclear results,” said Kim Alexander, a project member and president of the California Voter Foundation.

“To the extent that such episodes exist, they appear to be of limited scope and easily fixed,” said Bob Cohen, spokesman for the Information Technology Association of America, a trade group that includes voting-machine manufacturers.

The members of the verification project said they hadn’t seen evidence that the problems would change the presidential election results. But they said the problems raised the specter of that possibility in a closer race.

– Associated Press

KERRY WILL GIVE DEMOCRATS CAMPAIGN CASH, ADVISERS SAY

Under friendly fire, Senator Kerry likely will donate a substantial portion of his excess presidential campaign cash to help elect Democratic candidates in 2005 and 2006, advisers said yesterday.

Party leaders, including some of Mr. Kerry’s top campaign aides, said this week they were surprised and angry to learn that he had more than $15 million in accounts from the Democratic primaries. They demanded to know why the money wasn’t spent to help Mr. Kerry defeat President Bush or to aid congressional candidates.

There were no easy answers to those questions, officials close to Mr. Kerry acknowledged yesterday, but they sought to assure Democrats in a series of telephone calls that the four-term Massachusetts senator was sharing his political wealth. They argued that he donated $40.5 million to Democratic causes in 2004, including $3 million each to the party’s House and Senate campaign committees. More than $32 million went to the Democratic National Committee, including $9 million targeted to state parties. DNC spokesman, Jano Cabrera, said that was the largest contribution the DNC has ever received, and the first from a presidential primary campaign.

But several members of Mr. Kerry’s own campaign staff said the cash should have been spent before the Democratic convention in late July to build political organizations in Ohio and Florida – or to court Hispanic and black voters in key states. One member of Kerry’s inner circle of campaign aides said yesterday that the failure to spend the money cost the senator victory in a close election.

– Associated Press

WEST

PETERSON TRIAL COST NEARLY $2.5 MILLION

SACRAMENTO – The cost to investigate, arrest, and prosecute Scott Peterson for the murder of his pregnant wife, Laci, has reached nearly $2.5 million so far, and California taxpayers might have to pick up the tab.

Estimating that the costs could reach $5 million with appeals, Republican state Senator Jeff Denham said he will introduce a bill when the Legislature convenes next month to get the state to cover 100% of the bills. Authorities in Stanislaus County and Modesto, where Scott and Laci Peterson lived, have spent about $2.1 million so far. San Mateo County, where the trial was held after the defense argued that Peterson had been demonized in his hometown, has spent $320,000.

Peterson, 32, was convicted last Friday of murder. The cost estimates came amid a fight between the two counties where the nearly 2-year-old case has taken place.

– Associated Press

FIVE ARRESTED IN ALLEGED BANK, IMMIGRATION FRAUD

SEATTLE – Terrorism task force agents arrested five Seattle-area residents yesterday on immigration fraud charges for allegedly helping people from the West African nation of Gambia enter the country illegally.

Three other men were charged with defrauding banks of thousands of dollars, and another two were accused of weapons offenses.

A federal court clerk said the 10 men were scheduled to make appearances yesterday afternoon. An 11th suspect, accused of bank fraud, was not yet in custody, the clerk said. A search warrant obtained by KOMO-TV in Seattle said agents searched a barbershop in Seattle looking for training documents on urban warfare. In Washington, D.C., a federal law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity said investigators have established no links to any international terror group, nor have they uncovered any plans for any attack. The scheme involved providing Gambians with fraudulent passports and other immigration documents indicating they were from Sierra Leone, authorities said.

– Associated Press

SOUTH

REPRIEVE FROM EXECUTION FOR KILLER WHO CITED SONG

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – For the second time this year, the Supreme Court has postponed the execution of a man convicted of murdering a robbery victim nearly 20 years ago.

About 40 minutes after Troy Kunkle could have received a lethal injection last night, state officials received word the high court had blocked the execution. Kunkle, 38, was in a small holding cell next to the Texas death house when he received word. “Ecstatic,” he said when asked to describe his feeling. “Praise God.”

In July, the justices blocked Kunkle’s execution about nine hours before he was scheduled to die. After refusing last month to review the case, the court changed its mind yesterday, voting 5-4 to issue an indefinite stay. Kunkle’s lawyers argued the execution should be stopped in light of a recent Supreme Court ruling that found that some capital murder defendants in Texas were not given enough chance to present mitigating evidence. Kunkle shot Stephen Horton, 31, in the back of the head on August 11, 1984. Kunkle was 18 at the time. According to testimony at Kunkle’s capital murder trial, after killing Horton he chanted: “Another day, another death, another sorrow, another breath” – the refrain from the Metallica song “No Remorse” on the album “Kill ‘Em All.”

– Associated Press