275 MTSU Student Group to Show Election Documentary, Producers to Answer Questions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 11, 2008
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

DEMOCRACY STYMIED AT THE POLLS? WAS YOUR VOTE UNCOUNTED?
MTSU Student Group to Show Election Documentary, Producers to Answer Questions

(MURFREESBORO) – The MTSU Film Guild will show Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections, a documentary which purports to reveal fraud, cheating and manipulation in the 2004 and 2006 balloting, at 8 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 19, in Room 221 of MTSU’s Learning Resources Center. The viewing is free and open to the public.
“The effect it has on everyone just seems to be huge, and, I, to be honest, couldn’t think of a better documentary given the time frame,” says Justin Stokes, president of the Film Guild, referring to the primaries and caucuses leading up to 2008 presidential election in November.
Produced, directed and written by Nashville-based David Earnhardt, Uncounted features interviews with computer programmers, election officials, journalists and whistleblowers in an attempt to alert the public to the fragile state of electoral integrity.
Uncounted chronicles discrepancies in exit poll results and the reported vote in key battleground states; accusations of attempts to hinder African-Americans in their attempts to cast ballots; votes that allegedly were not counted in New Mexico and Pennsylvania; and difficulties with electronic voting and provisional ballots.
Earnhardt and co-producer Glenna Johnson will be available for a question-and-answer session immediately following the 80-minute-long movie.
The MTSU Film Guild is one of the newest student organizations on campus. Stokes says it was formed by students who have a mutual interest in making films and wanted to create networks with others who have similar interests and talents. To bring attention to the power and significance of well-made films, the group wants to showcase films made either by students or other filmmakers in the future.
“Primarily, it’s about making movies, films that we are interested in,” Stokes says. “We have all sorts of ideas we’d like to turn into actual cinema. And it’s also about showcasing films that we feel are of quality and are a public service to showcase, such as the Uncounted documentary.”
The doors will open at 7:45 p.m. for Uncounted. For more information, contact Stokes at 615-663-2811 or jds6h@mtsu.edu.

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ATTENTION, MEDIA: For still photos of scenes from Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections or copies of the trailer and clips from the film for electronic media, contact Gina Logue in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.