Home > Election Unresolved As Ohio Residents Fight Disenfranchisement

Election Unresolved As Ohio Residents Fight Disenfranchisement

by Open-Publishing - Wednesday 3 November 2004
12 comments

Edito Elections-Elected USA


by Joshua Breitbart

Ohio voter groups have called for a statewide
walkout and protest in Columbus as the US presidential election hinges on
thousands of provisional ballots and claims of disenfranchisement.

After a day of huge
turnout and widespread reports of voting irregularities [1 | 2 | 3]
the polls closed in Ohio with a margin
of fewer than 150,000 votes separating Bush and Kerry out of more than 5
million cast. Polls stayed open late into the night to accommodate people who
waited on line for over five hours. (Read minute-by-minute
reports from throughout the day.)

The final vote tally may require counting provisional and absentee ballots, which will take more than 11 days. Although races in New Mexico, Iowa, and others have not been called, Ohio’s 20 electoral votes appear to be decisive in determining the presidency.

In a repeat of their actions in 2000, corporate media made premature calls of victory. Fox News Channel made the first claim of a Bush win in Ohio (at 12:41 am) followed by MSNBC (at 12:59 am). But this time the other networks held back, leaving corporate media conflicted on the outcome of the election. The Kerry/Edwards team refused to concede defeat.

It is not known how many provisional ballots were issued throughout the day. The Help America Vote Act, passed after the failed election of 2000, requires that provisional ballots be provided to anyone whose claim of registration cannot be verified on election day. Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell originally ordered election workers not to issue provisional ballots to people who had applied for absentee ballots but not received them. A federal judge reversed that order around 3:00 pm sending voters’ groups scrambling to inform voters of their newly-restored right.

Blackwell, a Republican and major supporter of George W. Bush, has been under pressure to resign after taking many steps to limit enfranchisement.

A Cincinnati resident has already filed suit [pdf] asking a federal judge to order Blackwell to issue a uniform set of standards for reviewing the provisional ballots.

Ohio activists are not waiting for the courts or the Democrats. Making good on a November 1 promise to take action if there was significant voter suppression and intimidation on election day, a coalition of groups has called for a statewide walkout and convergence on Columbus, the state capitol, as well as local actions in Toledo, Cincinatti, Cleveland, Oxford, and Athens.

"This is a true grassroots mobilization to take back the democratic process from the pundits and the stronghold of the Republican and Democratic National Parties," declared Alessandra Hernandez.  "We have seen thousands of people newly activated by an election process that routinely marginalizes the voices of the people most in need, and we are here to say we have had enough.  Democracy begins with each one of us, and it begins today!"

"As with 2000, George Bush is trying to seize power after a disputed election made artificially close by widespread disenfranchisement," said an anonymous post to Indymedia.us. "If there was ever a time to engage politically, to do more than just vote as a way of taking control of your life, it is right now."

http://michiganimc.org/feature/display/7576/index.php

Forum posts

  • Kerry, Edwards and the Dems are sore LOSERS! Ohio is not like Florida, Bush received 136,483 more votes than Kerry. Total number of provisional votes are 135,149. Even if ALL of those provisional goods have been found to be legitimate (no spoilage is highly unlikely) and even if ALL those votes are for the loser Kerry (highly unlikely), Bush would still be ahead by 1,334. That’s a higher total of votes that Bush won by than in Florida. All of you losers crying disenfranchisement should be ashamed of themselves. There was no such thing and you who are so interested in winning beyond reason are trying to wreck the democratic process. In addition, Bush picked up Iowa and Nevada and New Mexico by tens of thousands votes which puts him way over the required 270 electoral votes. Bush won the electoral vote and the popular vote by a solid margin. All you dems and Bush haters and europeans, read it and weep. Four more years of Bush and no time for appeasers!

    • "There was no such thing and you who are so interested in winning beyond reason are trying to wreck the democratic process."

      GIVE ME A BREAK

      Where were you in 2000? If anyone wrecked the process, it was the Republicans. The Democrats just don’t want to be cheated again.

    • WHO’S IN THE WHITE HOUSE, BUSH BUSH BUSH.

      What you are saying is true but it is the Lib Dems that have tried to win beyond reason and who tried to cheat in 2000 and whomever you are know this to be God’s honest truth. This is obvious by all of the numbers. Real people are starting to wake and see the lies and deceit put forth by the lib dems and their day is over. Maybe you’ll get lucky in 08’ with Hillary. NOT!

    • The Secretary of State’s Office of Ohio, Blackwell (Republican!) has stated that ALL PROVISIONAL VOTES MUST LAWFULLY BE COUNTED AND WILL BE.....IT’S THE LAW!

      CONCESSION MEANS NOTHING, THE LAW MEANS EVERYTHING.....IT AIN’T OVER UNTIL THE VOTES ARE ALL COUNTED, AND "CERTIFIED", BY LAW.

      Thus, NO OFFICIAL WINNER YET BETWEEN BUSH AND KERRY.....AND EVEN THEN THE DELEGATES MUST VOTE IN STATE CONVENTIONS FIRST, BY CONSTITUTIONAL LAW!

      You ignorant Repubulican anti-Constitutionalists are so (willingly) ignorant.....you would overthrow all law, constitutional law to get YOUR Pope in office!

    • Are you kiddning? What did the Republicans do to cheat?

  • It’s 11:05 cst and I’m curious why the fascist pigs haven’t updated this site. Not much is being said by all of the liberal pinheads now that Scary Kerry conceided.

    WHO’S IN THE WHITE HOUSE. BUSH BUSH BUSH

  • I’m glad to see that some people care about every single person’s vote. It’s so funny to hear a bush supporter call the site fascist when anyone who knows what one is, knows that the bush administration is the closest to a fascist regime that the United States of America has ever seen. Come on Americans, we know that the radical rightists have stolen the election again. Any honest person knows that. Fight back. Don’t let loudmouth white supremacists take over the discussion!

    • Bush wins! No amount of conspiracy theorizing by the lefty demagogues is gonna change that. As for that "mythical radical rightists" they can’t hold a candle to left wingnuts like Michael Moore who have done their very best to have america hated by foreigners, broadcast erroneous exit polls, and registered criminals and illegal aliens in order to pump up their democratic rolls. America is back from the brink!

    • Many Americans have been saying this was a staged election ever since the absurd Dem primaries. "Whoever won iowa was going to win them all" - howard dean. Why? What the fuck kind of stupid system is this?
      http://www.benfrank.net/nuke/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=263

      This was a phony election between two skull and boners, kerry gave up because it was all in the script. The next attack will happen sometime soon, that will force everyone to shut up and support the president in ’this time of crisis’. Next attack will bring martial law to america, at least the rest of the world can laugh at the stupidity of the American people- accepting this bogus sham. For god’s sake, we all know bush was wired for the debates, he’s a total moron, but kerry refused to call him on it because kerry did not really want to win.

      all americans should download these movies and use them to educate their neighbors when they try to impose martial law. burn these on cd and pass them around.
      http://www.benfrank.net/nuke/movielist.txt

      it’s a text file- import into your download manager (if you don’t have a DM, get one, well worth it just for this)

    • Be careful what you wish for. One year from now, Le Carre ‘s point will prove to be true. America will regret this election result. All the gloating and self aggrandizement will come to an end. Let’s see who has the last laugh!!!!

  • "Disenfranchisement" is another way of claiming "racism." I’m tired of hearing that battle cry. It gets old real fast. When Clinton won, the conservatives didn’t claim fraud; they just accepted it as the outcome of the voting process. What about the military vote for Ohio, I don’t hear any Kerry fans concerned about their votes. The liberals are concerned about every vote counting, only they think it is one of their own. I think the military’s vote should be counted and announced before anybody’s.

    Anyone can show up to vote and get a provisional ballot. Statistically, the provisional ballots are not enough to help Kerry. That’s why he figured he could not win and conceded—I’ll give’em credit here. Kerry and Edwards are lawyers; if they didn’t see a way to win via loophole; I don’t think there is one.

    The election is official after the electors’ votes are counted. So, a concession is not final; just like a horse race is not official until the judge calls it—no matter who you saw cross the finish line first or who you saw on the photo-finish.

    George W. will go down as one of the best Presidents in history. Those on the left will have to humble themselves in order to realize this. Perhaps, some will never realize this.