Rep. Dennis Kucinich speaks at the University of Detroit. (Political Affairs/Wendland)
Detroit, Mich. – In a stump speech before an audience of more than 200 at the University of Detroit Friday, Rep. Dennis Kucinich called for a recount of electronic ballots from the New Hampshire Democratic primary.
"Election integrity is one of those issues that is so important," Kucinich stated.
Though for all of the Republican candidates and the bottom tier Democratic candidates the election outcome matched polling figures, the pollsters were wrong about the outcomes for the two top candidates, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
There was a 16-point swing between the pre-election polls and the actual outcomes. Kucinich said. And according to analysis circulating in the blogosphere, precincts with electronic balloting gave a slight edge to Clinton, while precincts with hand-counted paper ballots went slightly for Obama.
"I am not drawing any conclusions," Kucinich said. "I just want to make sure it all figures."
To thunderous applause, Kucinich said, "We need to be sure those results are real. We're not going to have another Florida like we had in 2000 or an Ohio like we had in 2004."
According to an e-mail message from the campaign to its supporters, the recount will have to be paid for by the Kucinich campaign. The campaign is asking for additional donations to help fund the recount.
"I am not making this request in the expectation that a recount will significantly affect the number of votes that were cast on my behalf," Dennis said in his letter to the Secretary of State of New Hampshire.
Kucinich is spending several days in Michigan in the run-up to the state primary on the 15th and though the the Detroit Metro Times hasn't endorsed any candidate for Michigan's primary, the alternative weekly did argue that a vote for Kucinich would not be wasted because Michigan's Democratic primary is uncontested.
