[North-NV-Greens] Fwd: [usgp-dx] Recount in Ohio

Sat Nov 27 14:15:46 PST 2004

>
>
>How the pundits again so easily marginalize our 
>candidate and our efforts!! If I were an editor 
>I would fire this columnist for
>(1) getting his facts wrong
>(2) misunderestimating (thanks, Dubya!) the problem
>.....nancy
>
>(1)"David Cobb, the also-ran nominee of the Green Party..."
>(2)"The obvious question is, why bother when Mr. Kerry has conceded? "
>
>http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1126-03.htm
>Published on Friday, November 26, 2004 by the Baltimore Sun 
>Recount in Ohio 
>by Jules Witcover
>
>WASHINGTON - The presidential election is over 
>and Sen. John Kerry has conceded defeat, but the 
>wheels are nevertheless in motion in Ohio for a 
>recount in the state that put President Bush 
>over the top.
>
>The recount is being pressed even though the 
>Kerry campaign has no hope or expectation of 
>reversing the result. As of election night, the 
>president carried Ohio by more than enough to 
>avoid a mandatory retabulating of the votes.
>
>The tally gave Mr. Bush 51.1 percent to Mr. 
>Kerry's 48.5 percent, far in excess of the 
>one-quarter of 1 percent winning margin that 
>under state law would require a recount. But the 
>law also stipulates that any bona fide candidate 
>may trigger one by requesting it and putting up 
>the necessary funds, at $10 a precinct, to pay 
>for it in each of the state's 11,360 precincts 
>in 88 counties.
>
>Enter David Cobb, the also-ran nominee of the 
>Green Party, and Michael Badnarik, the certified 
>standard-bearer of the Libertarian Party. 
>Together, their supporters have raised more than 
>the $113,600 required. They have petitioned Ohio 
>Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, who also 
>happened to be a co-chairman of the Bush 
>campaign in the state, to order the recount.
>
>Before it can take place, however, the actual 
>statewide vote count, including all accepted 
>provisional ballots, must be tallied. According 
>to James Lee, of Mr. Blackwell's office, his 
>boss under Ohio law has until Dec. 3 to certify 
>the outcome, at which time he can then start the 
>recount. Elected members of the Electoral 
>College are to meet Dec. 13 in their various 
>states, but the new Congress will not convene to 
>receive and verify the results until Jan. 6.
>
>The obvious question is, why bother when Mr. 
>Kerry has conceded? Green and Libertarian 
>supporters say the recount can uncover fraud and 
>other irregularities. Bloggers on the Internet 
>have been flooding it with anecdotal examples, 
>but Dan Hoffheimer, Mr. Kerry campaign's lawyer 
>in Ohio, says: "Our eyes are wide open, and to 
>this date we've found no evidence of confirmed 
>fraud."
>
>Nevertheless, the Kerry campaign and the Ohio 
>Democratic Party will be sending observers into 
>precincts to monitor the recount, he says, to 
>fulfill a promise made by Mr. Kerry to make sure 
>that all votes cast will be counted, including 
>all provisional ballots.
>
>About 155,000 such ballots were cast, Mr. 
>Hoffheimer says, and Mr. Kerry would have had to 
>win nearly all of them to overcome Mr. Bush's 
>lead of 135,000 votes in Ohio on election night. 
>"It would have to be a virtual miracle," he 
>says. But monitoring the recount may provide 
>lessons about how the provisional ballot 
>procedure worked and how it can be improved for 
>the next election.
>
>In Ohio, 67 of the 88 counties used punch-card 
>ballots of the sort that caused major problems 
>in Florida in 2000. But all of the precincts 
>used machines that have a recount capability, 
>Mr. Lee says, and the statewide recount should 
>be possible within a day or two of Mr. 
>Blackwell's instructions to start it, though 
>critics dispute that.
>
>Several private groups, one of them led by David 
>Lytel of the Web site ReDefeatBush.com, are also 
>suing on grounds that large numbers of Ohio 
>voters were disenfranchised in violation of the 
>14th Amendment. He expressed dismay that the 
>Kerry campaign seems willing to settle for 
>"meaningless political hot air" rather than 
>striving to reverse the election outcome.
>
>He cites numerous allegations of voter 
>irregularities, Republican suppression and 
>suspicious voting machine results that a true 
>recount could substantiate. Mr. Lytel, a former 
>Clinton White House official, says of the 
>recount that the Republicans in Ohio are going 
>"from a how-dare-you strategy to a 
>run-out-the-clock strategy" instead of 
>addressing the allegations.
>
>Another recount is under way in New Hampshire at 
>the request of Reform Party nominee Ralph Nader. 
>Mr. Lytel insists that tabulation errors in Ohio 
>can cast doubts on results from Florida and 
>other closely contested states, further building 
>the case for other recounts that against all 
>odds could give the election to Mr. Kerry.
>
>But time and the willingness of Republican 
>election officials to cooperate make such a 
>reversal the longest of long shots.
>
>Jules Witcover writes from The Sun's Washington 
>bureau. His column appears Wednesdays and 
>Fridays.
>
>
>© Copyright 2004 The Baltimore Sun
>
>
>
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-- 
Paul Etxeberri

"Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow"   ---Chateaubriand