From the Office of Senator Kerry

Wednesday, January 5, 2005

“On November 3, I conceded the presidential election to George Bush and also expressed my commitment to ensuring that every vote in this election is counted. While I am deeply concerned about the issues being highlighted by my colleagues in Congress and citizens across the country and support their efforts to highlight the need to ensure voting rights, I will not be joining their protest of the Ohio Electors.

“As Representative John Conyers’ (D-Mich.) recently released voting rights report shows, there are very troubling questions that have not yet been answered by Ohio election officials. I have supported and will continue to support a close examination of voting irregularities in Ohio and elsewhere because it’s critical to our democracy.

“As I have committed, in the coming months I will present a national proposal to ensure transparency and accountability in our voting process. I plan to use the information gathered by Representative Conyers in his report, and information from other investigations underway, to guide my legislation. It will be one of my top agenda items. I ask the Republican leadership, and all those concerned about voting rights, to join this effort so that we act on reform this year.

“I will continue to strongly support the efforts of the civil rights and voting rights groups across the country that continue to investigate what happened in 2004 and how we can ensure it will never happen again.

“I am currently traveling in the Middle East to thank our troops for their service, and I am reminded once again of the power of democracy and fair and free elections. All American citizens should have the confidence that their vote was counted. Our democracy depends on it.” ###