Nyah, nyah nyah nyah nyah....
Posted on 12/02/2004 6:01:10 AM PST by You Dirty Rats
Results in Ohio still contested
Disgruntled voters seek recount, may file suit over Bush's victory. No proof of fraud found
By Steven Thomma
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - As Ohio counties certified election resultsWednesday, most showed that President Bush won the pivotal battleground state Nov. 2 and with it a second term. But the certifications didn't yet seal the results, and disgruntled groups alleging vote fraud plan to contest the state's results and demand a recount.
One coalition of disgruntled voters and interest groups plans to seek a recount. Another plans to file a lawsuit with the state Supreme Court today contesting Bush's victory.
Despite these challenges -- and rampant charges on the Internet that Republicans stole the election for Bush in Ohio -- there's still no proof of significant fraud, and there's no reason yet to think the election will be overturned. Consider:
• Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, who conceded Ohio and the election Nov. 3 after his aides concluded there was no reasonable chance for him to overturn Bush's margin there of 136,000 votes, refuses to join the challenges.
• A federal judge has blocked efforts to start a recount quickly.
• Any recount wouldn't start until Dec. 11. That would leave only about 24 hours to find enough invalid votes to reverse Bush's victory in Ohio before the state's presidential electors vote for him on Dec. 13, which would seal his re-election.
``We haven't seen any evidence to suggest that the outcome of the election would change,'' Kerry spokesman David Wade said.
Kerry's campaign has filed one legal brief, but it argues only that if there is a recount, it should include all Ohio counties. It doesn't call for a recount.
Official results from the state's 88 counties were sent Wednesday to Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell. He's expected to certify the tally Monday showing that Bush won the state.
Two legal challenges
The challenges are proceeding along two tracks.
The first -- by the Green and Libertarian parties, whose candidates each polled less than 1 percent in Ohio -- seeks a recount.
``There were widespread reports of irregularities,'' said Blair Bobier, an Oregon attorney for the Green Party. ``They range from computer glitches that recorded more votes for George Bush than there were registered voters, to people attempting to vote for one candidate and the screen showing they voted for another candidate.''
The machine that showed more votes for Bush than the number of registered voters was in Franklin County. A spokesman for Blackwell's office said the problem was detected and corrected. The votes weren't counted.
Touch-screen machines show the final vote before recording it so that voters have a chance to correct mistakes. Yet Bobier said some voters weren't able to correct their mistakes because they got incorrect instructions from poll workers or gave up and left the wrong votes on the machines.
One goal of a recount would be to examine 93,000 ballots that were spoiled or discarded for other reasons. ``Without a recount, those won't get counted at all,'' Bobier said. Another would be to ensure that problems are detected and corrected before the elections in 2006.
The second track is the group that plans to challenge the election, which said it would file a lawsuit today with the state Supreme Court. The group includes 25 Ohio voters and is backed by a Massachusetts-based interest group, Alliance for Democracy.
Among their complaints: Kerry was outpolled in southern Ohio -- a culturally conservative area --by a black female Democrat running for the state Supreme Court. The challengers say that's unlikely and reason that it means 70,000 votes were stolen from Kerry and given to Bush.
``In southern Ohio, there's no reason to believe a black female candidate would be outperforming Kerry,'' said Cliff Arnebeck, an attorney for the group. ``It's a fix. Whether they had the computers rigged to do this, we'll find out.''
Voting fraud alleged
Another complaint: The Ohio results contradicted exit surveys showing Kerry ahead in the state. Pressed to explain how that was evidence of fraud, Arnebeck said exit polls were better proof of voting than vote results.
``The exit-polling process is sponsored by news organizations, which are professionally committed to truth, not the distorted picture one party wants to convey,'' he said. ``It is a much more credible form of evidence of how people voted than this incredibly partisan machinery we have in place to conduct our elections.''
In fact, exit polls in many states were inaccurate throughout Election Day, misleading those privy to them until more complete results came in.
Arnebeck said Blackwell, the secretary of state, shouldn't judge the final election results because he co-chaired Bush's state campaign. ``He was a captain of one of the teams and the chief referee,'' Arnebeck said.
Carlo LoParo, a spokesman for Blackwell, said the charges were wrong.
He noted that each Ohio county's result is certified by local elections boards governed by equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans. The same boards would conduct recounts.
``We have seen no evidence to indicate fraud or widespread irregularities. We have had an outstanding election in Ohio,'' LoParo said.
``There are valuable checks and balances on our elections process.''
``The exit-polling process is sponsored by news organizations, which are professionally committed to truth, not the distorted picture one party wants to convey,'' he said. ``It is a much more credible form of evidence of how people voted than this incredibly partisan machinery we have in place to conduct our elections.''
I may never stop laughing.
May my tagline say it all....
That quote requires the posting of a picture of Dan Blather!
Nyah, nyah nyah nyah nyah....
"Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, who conceded Ohio and the election Nov. 3 after his aides concluded there was no reasonable chance for him to overturn Bush's margin there of 136,000 votes, refuses to join the challenges."
Kerry is disingenuous. His people are involved in the recount effort. Also, his campaign joint the suit in Delaware County to force a recount that Delaware does not want to do.
Sidelining them and with a little bit of luck, costing them bundles and bundles of money!!
Oww! My sides are splitting on that one.
What is concerning about all this nonsense, is every time an election result is called into question, when clearly the results are not debatable, it tears down our democratic process, demeans the system and opens up the election process to real fraud because we cry "wolf" every time a election doesn't go the democrats way
my thoughts exactly!
I guess we shouldnt have elections anymore, let's just choose our leaders on the basis of polls!
That kind of sentiment is scary, yet the loons on the left say WE are the ones who are intolerant and closed minded? Sheesh.
``In southern Ohio, there's no reason to believe a black female candidate would be outperforming Kerry,'' said Cliff Arnebeck, an attorney for the group. ``It's a fix. Whether they had the computers rigged to do this, we'll find out.''
That's DUMorat logic for ya
my thoughts exactly!
The legal profession is in a downward spiral since their candidate, for whom they contributed Millions of Dollars, lost and contributes further to a reordering of the ability of the legal profession to milk citizens of their hard earned wages.
An election cannot be contested until it has been certified.
Ohio Sec. of State, Ken Blackwell, b-slapped Jesse Jackson yesterday in an interview with Billy Cunningham on WLW, Cincinnati, over Jackson's comments about the vote count in Ohio.
Blackwell, an extremely astute, conservative, Republican African American, said that Jackson suffers from attention-deficit disorder....he wasn't getting any attention so he had to come make an ignorant statement just to get his name in the news.
He said Jackson's the guy who runs out in front of the parade acting like he organized something.
Blackwell says they've been carefully counting the votes per Ohio law which requires ALL ballots before the final talley -- to include military, provisional, etc. -- so that their final talley will be far more accurate than any recount.
And along comes Jackson saying they should count everything.
Blackwell just laughed at Jackson and made fun of him. (Blackwell for governor!)
Carlo LoParo, a spokesman for Blackwell, said the charges were wrong.
He noted that each Ohio county's result is certified by local elections boards governed by equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans. The same boards would conduct recounts.
They fail to mention that Bush did similarly well in 2000 in that same county.
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