A group of high-ranking congressional Democrats who had called for a federal probe of the November election announced Tuesday that the Government Accountability Office would investigate irregularities with voting machines and provisional ballots nationwide.

That announcement came on the same day that the Democratic Party in Ohio said it would join the recount effort in that state that was initiated by Green and Libertarian party candidates.

Both of these developments reflect growing concern with election results and procedures that were first raised by poll watchers and individual voters and then circulated on the Internet.

"All Americans, no matter how they voted, need to have confidence that when they cast their ballot, their voice is heard," Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, declared in a statement also signed by five other Democrats.

In all, 13 Democratic members of Congress, including East Bay Reps. Barbara Lee and George Miller, have called for the GAO to investigate.

Some 57,000 election day complaints were made to the House Judiciary Committee and will be handed over to the GAO, according to the statement released Tuesday, which said the agency would examine issues related to voting machines -- including security, accuracy and fair distribution of machines at polling places -- along with problems in counting provisional ballots.

"We're not expecting to overturn any elections, but where there are problems, they should be fixed," said John Doty, press secretary for Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., one of the members who signed two letters to the GAO.

The GAO made no official announcement of the investigation, but agency staff members told congressional staffers of the probe during a meeting earlier this week, Doty said.

In Ohio, the state Democratic Party will recruit volunteers to help monitor the recount, along with volunteers organized by the other two parties.

"We are proud to stand up for Democrats all over the world who have asked us to make sure every vote gets counted," said Dennis White, Ohio Democratic Party chair, in making Tuesday's announcement.

Green Party candidate David Cobb has raised $250,000 on the Internet to pay filing fees for the recount and for the monitoring effort, said Blair Bobier, spokesman for Cobb.

The Ohio secretary of state's office has said that a change in the winner is unlikely. Bush won the state by 136,000 votes, according to preliminary numbers.

"We wouldn't think there would be that much of a difference in a recount, " said Carl LoParo, spokesman for Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, noting that county boards of election were currently auditing their results. "The boards are conducting what for all intents and purposes is a recount right now. "

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