Kansas Secretary of State Tries Blocks Release Of Voting Tapes After Statistical Anomalies Noted

Seems that a functioning democracy would include the ability to audit the votes.

Pax On Both Houses: Compendium Of Voter Fraud And Voter Suppression Posts

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/11/gop-voter-suppression-and.html

The Daily Show Interviews Republican Official Who Spills Beans On Deliberate Voter Suppression 
Masquerading As Prevention Of Voter Fraud
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/10/jon-stewart-asif-mandvi-investigates.html

Kansas Secretary of State Tries Blocks Release Of Voting Tapes After Statistical Anomalies Noted

Beth Clarkson has extensively studied voting patterns in Kansas and noted several troubling statistical anomalies, ones that always benefited Republican candidates. She pressed for further transparency and was consistently rebuffed. She decided to sue Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Sedgwick County Elections Commissioner Tabitha Lehman:

While it is well-recognized that smaller, rural precincts tend to lean Republican, statisticians have been unable to explain the consistent pattern favoring Republicans that trends upward as the number of votes cast in a precinct or other voting unit goes up. In primaries, the favored candidate appears to always be the Republican establishment candidate, above a tea party challenger. And the upward trend for Republicans occurs once a voting unit reaches roughly 500 votes.

“This is not just an anomaly that occurred in one place,” Clarkson said. “It is a pattern that has occurred repeatedly in elections across the United States.”

The pattern could be voter fraud or a demographic trend that has not been picked up by extensive polling, she said.

She wants to look over the hard copies to check the error rate. You'd think in America, the heart of democracy, this would be a fairly simple request. But, no. Last night, Kris Kobach asked a judge to block the release:

Secretary of State Kris Kobach argued that the records sought by Wichita State University mathematician Beth Clarkson are not subject to the Kansas open records act, and that their disclosure is prohibited by Kansas statute. His response, which was faxed Friday to the Sedgwick County District Court, was made public Monday.

Obviously the judge will decide, but a key cornerstone of a working democracy would seem to include the ability to audit the vote.