NYT: “As Questions Keep Coming, Ohio Certifies Its Vote Count” 12/7/04

[Peace Patriot]

The New Yorks Times gives a fairly straightforward and detailed account of developments in Ohio, in its National section news article today (12/7/04):

“Lawyers for the Green Party and the Libertarian Party - supported by Senator John Kerry's presidential campaign - are also expected to file requests on Tuesday in each of Ohio's 88 counties seeking a recount, a process that could take several weeks. The Kerry camp said it was not challenging the outcome of the contest but wanted to make sure all votes were counted.

“And on Wednesday, lawyers from the Alliance for Democracy, a group based in Massachusetts that advocates fair elections, plan to ask the Ohio Supreme Court to throw out the election results and declare Mr. Kerry the winner. Officials with the group, which is filing the request on behalf of 25 Ohio voters, said they would be able to demonstrate widespread irregularities and fraud in the heavily Republican counties surrounding Cincinnati.

"’We will allege in the complaint that the result should have been Kerry winning,’ said Clifford Arnebeck, a lawyer in Columbus, Ohio, who is co-chairman of the alliance.”

The article states that, “…many Democrats and members of third parties around the country share a perception that the Ohio election was riddled with technical problems and fraud. The anger with the results has fueled successful fund-raising drives by groups that contend widespread irregularities occurred.”

The NYT further states that the Ohio Green Party and Libertarian Party “raised more than $250,000” and the Alliance for Democracy “ raised $108,000” to pay for a full Ohio recount. And it notes that the recount must begin within 10 days of the recount request, and that Ohio’s electors are scheduled to meet next Monday although the challenges and recounts will not be completed by then.

The article includes a typically lily-livered DNC opinion on why the Democratic leadership might be interested in Ohio's fraud-ridden election:

“’Like Florida in 2000, which gave us a lot of information and evidence that we used later on to improve our election system, Ohio will play that role for us this year,’ said Donna Brazile, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute.”

(Right! I can’t wait for the DNC to “improve” our election system! Nice job they did last time! How do you like that, Ohio--you're "playing a role" in the DNC's election reform plan? Gr-r-r-r-r-r-r!)

To be fair, Brazile goes on to say: "There's no question that there's been a long pattern, a chilling pattern, of voter intimidation, voter suppression across the country over the years."

The reporters (James Dao, in Washington, and Albert Salvato, Cincinnati) comment that: “Democratic officials, walking a fine line between their angry liberal base and centrist voters who consider the election over, said they were not contesting the results.”

(Considered yourself tagged: "their angry liberal base"!)

If you want to read the article in its entirety (i.e., Scott McClellan’s comments), go to:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/07/national/07ohio.html