Group Calls on Sharpton for Voting Flap

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Just hours before the official certification of the August Primary and County Election results, Memphis may be receiving a visit from political activist Al Sharpton. Sharpton may bring national exposure to what his organization believes was the reason thousands of people might have been illegally turned away at the polls on August 5th.

The use of the controversial Diebold machines has received anything but a warm welcome since it was chosen as the main voting system in Memphis and Shelby County elections more than 4 years ago. With the reported irregularities now stemming from this month's primary and county races, yet another organization is ready to turn up the heat again on the Shelby County Election Commission to make a change.

"We believe that the smoking gun, as it relates to this election, are the machines themselves," said Greg Grant, President of the National Action Network's Memphis chapter.

At a Wednesday news conference held on the steps of the downtown election commission office, members of the local chapter of the National Action Network became the latest to independently jump into the fray just hours before the official certification of election results on Thursday.

"We found that hundreds, if not thousands, of people were turned away. We feel that those numbers can very easily affect the outcome of any number of elections that were held on that particular day," said Grant. "We've asked the Reverend Al Sharpton to come here and deal with the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. In that, deal with those individuals who were disenfranchised on Election Day, those individuals that were turned away."

The group also urged the media to investigate the well-circulated findings of a study concerning the vulnerabilities of the Diebold voting system that was conducted by a Princeton Professor in 2006. That study attempted to graphically show how easy it was to commit voter fraud with the machines, a demonstration Diebold officials were quick to dismiss as being outdated.

Yet, since Shelby County Election Commissioners first narrowly voted to employ the system and Shelby County Commissioners put up the $5 million to buy more than 1,300 machines, controversy over their operation has appeared to surface with nearly every election.

In 2006, four candidates contested in court the results of the election that year, arguing the technical flaws in the machines had cost them victory. A judge ruled against them. However, that hasn't stopped Diebold detractors like the Action Network from citing the Princeton study as proof of alleged security risks to the sanctity of the voting process.

"It will clearly let you know how races can be manipulated. Viruses can be placed on the voting machines, improper information," Grant asserted.