Defend Democracy in Columbus, Ohio Monday, 03 January 2005 All day On Election Day, problems throughout Ohio were reported all day long. In the days and weeks that followed, people throughout the state continued to point to many irregularities in the presidential vote. The voting machines were susceptible to glitches, mistakes and hacking, and even the Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell (who chaired the Ohio Bush-Cheney election campaign) admitted there were “missteps” in the election process. As was the case in the 2000 election, these problems disproportionately affected African-American and low-income voters. There are a host of outstanding questions about the November 2nd election, in Ohio and other states: · Why were there 92,000 unprocessed votes, over and under counts? And what was the basis for accepting or denying these ballots? · Why were 155,000 people forced to vote provisionally, and what was the basis for accepting or denying these ballots? · Why did election officials in one county inform staff on the Thursday before the election that there would be a Homeland Security alert on Election Day, and then take ballots to a warehouse for a secret count which resulted on a 14,000 vote increase for Bush from his 2000 total? Congressmembers John Conyers, Maxine Water and Stephanie Tubbs-Jones all led a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee in Columbus, OH in mid-December, where yet more concerns and questions were made pblic. Lawsuits have been filed, people have protested, and the work to secure a thorough recount of every vote cast in Ohio continues. Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. has initiated a call for a Pro-Democracy – Count Every Vote Rally to be held in Columbus, Ohio (the state capital) on Monday, January, 3, 2005. The rally will pull together people from all around Ohio, as well as others who can make the trip. United for Peace and Justice is one of several national coalitions and organizations lending support to this effort. We call on everyone who can to join this important rally, just days before the U.S. Congress will convene to accept the results of the votes cast by the Electoral College delegates on Dec. 13th. The details of the rally are still be worked on, and we will be updating the information on our web site as soon as possible. In the meantime, if you are in Ohio, or can find a way to travel there, make plans now to participate in the Pro-Democracy Rally on Jan. 3rd. Whether or not you can be with us in Columbus, please think about people you know who might be able to make the trip and pass this message along to them. On a related note: please take a moment to read the event on January 6th for the No Stolen Election Campaign and United Progressives for Democracy. It explains a nationwide effort to get at least one Senator to stand up with their colleagues from the House of Representatives who are ready and willing to call for an open Congressional discussion about this election on January 6th. URL: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/ |
