Election Reverberations

GAMBIER, Ohio (September 25, 2006) Stealing America: Vote by Vote, a documentary film by Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning director Dorothy Fadiman about voting irregularities during the 2004 election is being screened in select cities during September and October. The film includes interviews with Kenyon students, many of whom had to wait up to 13 hours to cast their votes on November 2, 2004. The polls in Gambier did not close until 4:00 a.m. on November 3.

Shooting of the Kenyon segments of the film took place last winter. When Fadiman learned that Matthew Segal, a Class of 2008 double major in English and sociology, was actively involved in election reform, she asked him to choose the students to be interviewed, to scout locations, and to conduct the interviews himself. "Matthew did all the work that a field producer would do," says Fadiman. "To have that responsibility is unusual for someone his age."

Segal introduced Stealing America at its Washington, D.C., premiere on September 19. Segal is currently taking a semester off-campus to serve as personal intern to Hilary O. Shelton, director of the NAACP, a position Segal has held since the beginning of the summer.

Beyond the perspectives of Kenyon students, Fadiman's film reveals the stories of others who experienced hardships on Election Day 2004 in addition to the views of poll workers, computer experts, and nationally recognized journalists. Throughout, the film takes the position that election reform is a non-partisan issue of importance to both Republicans and Democrats.

Screenings are scheduled in New York City; Washington, D.C.; four Ohio cities (Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Youngstown), and in Oakland, Palo Alto, and Mountain View, California.