GAMBIA-L Archives

The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List

GAMBIA-L@LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Cynthia Daniels <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Cynthia Daniels <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 22 Dec 2004 19:23:59 -0600
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (175 lines)
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/1015
Ohio electoral fight becomes 'biggest deal since Selma' as GOP stonewalls
by Bob Fitrakis, Steve Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman
December 22, 2004

COLUMBUS -- As Republican officials stonewall subpoenas and subvert the recount process, Rev. Jesse
Jackson has pronounced Ohio's vote fraud fiasco "the biggest deal since Selma" and has called for a
national rally at "the scene of the crime" in Columbus January 3.

Another major national demonstration will follow in Washington on January 6, as Congress evaluates
the Electoral College. Should at least one US Representative and one Senator challenge the
electors' votes, a Constitutional crisis could ensue.

Meanwhile, volunteer attorneys have poured into Columbus from around the US to help investigate the
bitterly contested presidential vote that has allegedly given George W. Bush Ohio's electoral votes
and thus a second term. A lawsuit filed at the Ohio Supreme Court charges that a fair vote count
would give the state and the presidency to John Kerry rather than Bush.

On December 21, notice of depositions were sent to President George Bush, Vice President Dick
Cheney, Karl Rove and Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell to appear and give testimony
regarding the legal challenge of Ohio's elections results in the case Moss v Bush et al.

But Republican Blackwell's attorney at the Secretary of State’s office told the attorneys issuing
the notice of deposition and subpoena that Blackwell will not testify under oath. The
Republican-controlled Attorney General's office has labeled any attempt to put Blackwell under
oath, "harassment." Blackwell supervised the November 2 vote in Ohio at the same time he served as
co-chair of the state's Bush-Cheney campaign.

However, some counties like Clarmont have agreed to cooperate with the attorneys in the election
challenge. On December 22, a team of attorneys descended upon the Clarmont County Board of
Elections between 8:30-10:30am to pour over election day records.

In a December 21 conference call with activists from the around the US, Jackson said he has urged
Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) to stand with US Representatives who intend to
challenge the Electoral College's expected approval of George W. Bush for a second term. A
challenge by US Representatives in 2000 failed because no Senators would join their motion.

Jackson says this year will be different, urging election protection activists to stay focused over
the holiday season. "We can't let [the Republicans] get away with this, he told the conference
call. "Do not underestimate the outrage of the people. We are a legitimate force for democracy,
here and around the world."

"We will count every vote," he said, and make sure "every vote counts."

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus have strongly
questioned Bush's purported victory, pointing out that more than half the votes cast in Ohio and
the nation were recorded on electronic voting machines owned by Republicans, with no audit trail.

Conyers recently conducted hearings at Columbus City Hall to take testimony from Ohioans who were
deprived their right to vote. Another public hearing in Mahoning Valley, at the Warren Heights and
Trumball Library, documented "thousands of complaints of voting irregularities" that helped throw
the vote count to Bush. Election observers have testified under oath that more than a dozen voting
machines in Mahoning County regularly switched Kerry votes to Bush votes while voters watched in
amazement. Some 580 more absentee voters were certified than were identified by election board
officials. As in Franklin and other counties, there were also strategic machine shortages in
largely Democratic precincts. The November vote, said one observer, was "the crime of the century."

As dozens of volunteer attorneys pour into the state to help with the recount, Blackwell's
stonewall has prompted widespread suspicion about what the Republicans are hiding.

On Monday the expanded legal team issued subpoenas to top election officials in 10 counties where
vote-count fraud is suspected.

The rapid filing of subpoenas, the first step in interviewing people under oath, provoked the
shrill rejection from Blackwell. Though Blackwell is a state constitutional officer, his business
office is in a private building, where protesters -- including former California Congressman Dan
Hamburg---have been arrested without apparent provocation.

“They huffed and they puffed, trying to bully people around,” said attorney Peter Pectarsky, a key
member of the election challenge legal team. “Now we’re fighting over discovery. We served 10
depositions. The attorney general blew a gasket. They filed a motion to stop it… We will file our
response.”

This past Friday, attorneys refiled their election challenge suit, a day after state Supreme Court
dismissed it on a technicality. The challengers are trying to get a meaningful recount before the
January 6 Congressional vote, while Blackwell's GOP has done all it can to stall.

The election challenge lawsuit claims that statewide vote patterns reveal vote count fraud on a
scale that incorrectly awarded the state’s majority – and the presidency – to George Bush. They are
using the litigation process to document that fraud.

“Maybe this (the explanation of the Ohio vote) is much closer to the surface than anybody thinks,”
said Pete Pectarsky, a lead challenge attorney. “It doesn’t add up. If everything was above board,
why are they hiding everything? They could bury people in the details… Okay, look at these records.
Look at those.”

The election challenge suit was filed Dec. 17. Blackwell, the Bush-Cheney campaign, and Ohio’s
Republican electors have 10 days to respond. Then, according to court procedural rules, each side
has 20 days to do discovery – or additional evidence gathering, with those bringing the suit going
first. With January 6 being the date Congress accepts the Electoral College vote, and January 20
being the inauguration, the GOP seems determined to make the recount drag on as long as possible.

“We have stuff that points to big numbers,” Pectarsky said, referring to votes that should have
been counted for John Kerry. “What we need now is (someone saying) ‘We did it. Here’s how. Don’t
take my word. Here’s the evidence.’”

Tuesday, December 22 is the starting point for Pectarsky's negotiations with election officials
from 10 counties as to when they can be deposed. They will be asked a wide range of questions to
uncover answers explaining the presence of what are, at the least, voting irregularities.

In the Miami County town of Concord, certified returns show that all but 10 registered voters cast
ballots on Election Day. But the election challenge team has already identified more than 10
registered Concord citizens who did not vote, an incongruity that points to election fraud.

In Trumbull County, citizens using electronic machines saw their vote for Kerry register as a vote
for Bush. Additional hearings in Trumbull and other counties are adding to the litany of fraud and
theft.

In the meantime, among the attorneys who have come at their own expense to join Ohio's presidential
election challenge:


Bonnie McFadden, formerly a deputy public defender, law professor from both the University of New
Guinea and the University of Hawaii, and director of the Cambodia Defenders Project in Phnom Penh,
Cambodia, currently resides in Maui. Bonnie believes that Conyers’ Committee hearings have provided
clear evidence of illegal election practices. “Democracy cannot survive without honest elections.
The Ohio election fraud lawsuits are about saving our democratic form of government. There is
nothing more important than that.”

Karen Peterson, an attorney who worked for more than a decade in legal services specializing in
public benefits, consumer and family law and was a professor at both Cornell and the University of
Minnesota law schools, is volunteering in Ohio because she believes that it is critically important
that election irregularities are exposed to the light of day. “We will lose our democracy unless we
are willing to fight for it. If we allow voter suppression and dirty tricks to go uncovered and
unpunished, we should not be surprised if these tactics become more virulent in future elections.”

Lillian Ritt, formerly a research attorney working for the San Diego Superior Court and the 4th DCA
Division 1 for more than twenty years, and part of the team researching election law for Al Gore,
is in Ohio because she believes voting is critical to our democracy. “Voting has to be done openly
and without any possibility of machine error and/or tampering. The problems in Ohio threaten this
world, not just the United States. If they are not solved, then I consider this to be another
stolen election by Bush without the courage of the Ukraine people.”

Steve Chaffin, an attorney in Ohio for twenty-four years, has worked in many ways to provide for
those who have needed legal assistance and not been able to afford it. He has worked with those who
are facing rising costs of health care and other quality of life issues. His interests and work
have been to help those who are disenfranchised. Steve’s latest focus is on election and political
issues. Volunteering for this legal battle is just one more way in which he is helping our country.

Judy McCann, a civil rights attorney from Santa Rosa, California, left for Ohio with one day’s
notice promising her children she would be home for Christmas, even if it meant she would be on a
plane back to help in Ohio on December, 26th. Judy expressed her concern for the integrity of the
voting process. She spent Election Day in Florida monitoring the vote, learning first hand that our
votes may be cast but not accurately counted. Judy has been asked by the legal team to take
depositions and to travel to counties to collect the evidence of voting irregularities.

Melanie Braithwaite, an attorney in Columbus, Ohio, wants to volunteer for this election contest
because of her concern for her children and grandchildren. “To me free expression and exchange of
ideas, and the right to vote in free and fair elections are paramount moral and civic values to be
protected at all costs. If it costs me some time and inconvenience to volunteer in this effort,
then so be it. It is the price I pay to be an American citizen. I personally witnessed a moral
outrage on election day. I am peculiarly in a position to take this one on, as I have personally
nothing left to lose.”

As the team of election protection attorneys grows alongside the grassroots demand for a fair vote
count in Ohio and around the nation, the likelihood of an unprecedented Constitutional
confrontation beginning January 6 continues to escalate.

Stay Tuned!

--
Bob Fitrakis, Steve Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman are co-authors of the upcoming OHIO'S STOLEN
ELECTION: VOICES OF THE DISENFRANCHISED, 2004, to be published in January. Fitrakis is a co-counsel
in the Moss case. Support for this project is welcome through www.freepress.org or by sending a
check to The “Columbus Institute for Contemporary Journalism”, 1240 Bryden Rd., Columbus, Ohio 43205.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

ATOM RSS1 RSS2