Direct Action <<>> As Ukraine Celebrates Democracy, It's Being Denied in Ohio

[Ivo Skoric]

Jesse Jackson today demanded Ohio recount and told the public that
Kerry conceded too early and that Democrats should cry Fraud. Maybe
Otpor! in the end returns back to their makers?
ivo

On 5 Dec 2004 at 13:50, Miroslav Visic wrote:



/Published on Saturday, December 4, 2004 by the Columbus Free Press
<http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/7/2004/1016> (Ohio) / * As
Ukraine Celebrates Democracy, It's Being Denied in Ohio * *by Harvey
Wasserman*


As demonstrators cheer the restoration of democracy to their
beleaguered country, Ohio officials continue to deny it.

In the face of obvious fraud, Ukraine's Supreme Court has thrown out
an apparent coup for the incumbent and ordered a new election. That's
what needs to happen here.

But despite growing national pressure and a major demonstration
scheduled for tomorrow, Ohio's Republican Secretary of State Kenneth
Blackwell continues to stonewall a true recount in the state that
allegedly gave George W. Bush another term.

Reverend Jesse Jackson and Congressman John Conyers will be among the
speakers at a statehouse rally tomorrow demanding explanations for
apparent irregularities in the November 2 Ohio vote.

Conyers is Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee. He's
being
joined by fellow US Representatives Jerrold Nadler, Melvin Watt,
Sheila Jackson Lee, Maxine Waters, William Delahunt, Robert Wexler,
Tammy Baldwin, Anthony Weiner and Linda Sanchez in demanding that
Blackwell respond to a wide range of complaints about irregularities
in the Ohio vote.

Among other things, Conyers and his cohorts have written Blackwell
saying "we are concerned that these complaints constitute a troubled
portrait of a one-two punch that may well have altered and suppressed
votes, particularly minority and Democratic votes.

"First, it appears there were substantial irregularities in vote
tallies. It is unclear whether these apparent errors were the result
of machine malfunctions or fraud."

They also told Blackwell that "it appears that a series of actions of
government and non-government officials may have worked to frustrate
minority voters. Consistent and widespread reports indicate a lack of
voting machines in urban, minority and Democratic areas, and a
surplus
of such machines in Republican, white and rural areas. As a result,
minority voters were discouraged from voting by lines that were in
excess of eight hours long. Many of these voters were also apparently
victims of a campaign of deception, where flyers and calls would
direct them to the wrong polling place. Once at that polling place,
after waiting for hours in line, many of these voters were provided
provisional ballots after learning they were at the wrong location.
These ballots were not counted in many jurisdictions because of a
directive issued by some election officials, such as yourself."

The stinging letter has become part of a floodtide of doubt from
national and grassroots groups about the Ohio vote. Among the
specific
questions the Representatives asked are:

    * Why did Warren County officials exclude members of the press
    from
      observing vote counting on election night, claiming an FBI
agent
      had warned of a terrorist threat that was a "10" on a scale of
      one to ten, but the FBI has no knowledge of such a warning?

    * Why did precincts in Perry County apparently record more votes
      than voters?

    * Why did Butler County and a number of other counties record
more
      votes for an underfunded Democratic candidate for State Supreme
      Court than were recorded for the Democratic Presidential
      candidate?

    * Why did historically Democratic precincts in Cleveland record
up
      to twenty-two times more votes for the Constitution Party
      Presidential candidate than all third-party candidates combined
      received in the 2000 election?

    * Why did voters in Mahoning County report that when they
    attempted
      to record a vote for John Kerry their vote was displayed as
      being cast for George W. Bush?

    * Why did there appear to be a shortage of voting machines in
      traditionally Democratic precincts on election day, causing up
      to ten hour delays for voters, while there was an apparent
      surplus of voting machines in traditionally Republican
      precincts?

    * The litany of apparent theft, fraud and manipulation
surrounding
      the Ohio vote is growing with each passing day.

Which leads to the ultimate question: if Ukraine can get a new
election, why can't we?

© 1970-2004 The Columbus Free Press

--

____________________________________________________________________
"There's no sense in being precise when you don't even know what
you're talking about." John von Neumann



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
--------------------~--> $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register
anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/xYTolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~-

>

     ---
"We are not afraid to entrust the American people
with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies,
and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let
its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market
is a nation that is afraid of its people." (John F. Kennedy)

***
To Unsubscribe, politely, send a blank email to:

 Direct_Action-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com

To Subscribe, send a blank email to:

 Direct_Action-subscribe at yahoogroups.com




***
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Direct_Action/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    Direct_Action-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/