FBI uncovers no evidence of tampering in 2004 election

U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton said investigators also concluded there is no reason to believe the machines used in the Republican primary race were intentionally miscalibrated to produce an erroneous count. And he said it is "unlikely" extraneous markings on the ballots caused a miscount.

He said it is possible that the first time the ballots were counted there was something in the optical scanning machine used that blocked a "read head" from seeing some of the marks. Then, when there was a recount, the ballots were put through a different machine -- one without that problem.

"Under this scenarios, the recount would have accomplished exactly what it is intended to accomplish, that is, a more accurate count," Charlton wrote in a report to state and county officials that was made public Friday.

Charlton also made a series of other suggestions for changes in election procedures -- particularly for early ballots -- that he believes may prevent future problems. This includes better instructing those who vote at home not to use liquid white-out or correction tape to fix errors.

The 2004 primary involved five Republicans seeking two House seats in the district that encompasses parts of Chandler, Tempe and Phoenix. A preliminary count had Anton Orlich second but the results were close enough to mandate a recount.

Maricopa County Elections Director Karen Osborne said some of the ballots were fed through a different optical scanner.

That resulted in the additional votes, putting John McComish in second position.

McComish eventually won the general election.

Osborne said at the time it is possible the second scanner was simply more accurate. But state Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, who chairs the Senate Committee on Government Accountability and Reform, launched his own probe and hired his own outside consultant.

Douglas Jones, a computer scientist at the University of Iowa, was given access to the machines. But Jones reported he could not rule out the possibility of fraud unless he examined the ballots, something Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said Jones was not going to get without a court order.

The FBI took the ballots earlier this year for its own probe.

Harper told Capitol Media Services on Friday he is glad the FBI found no criminal activity. But he said that the one plausible theory -- the covered "read" head on the machine -- raises other concerns.

One is whether results from other races also were miscounted by that machine -- results that didn't tally a small enough margin of difference between winners and losers to force a more accurate recount.

Linda Weedon, the county's deputy election director, said that is possible. But she said the scanners are opened up and blown out after every 5,000 ballots are counted to ensure that stray pieces of paper or dirt do not affect the results.