Posted on 12/13/2004 11:54:37 AM PST by West Coast Conservative
The Ohio delegation to the Electoral College cast its votes for President Bush on Monday, hours after dissident groups asked the state Supreme Court to review the outcome of the state's presidential race.
The 20 GOP electors voted unanimously for Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
"The vast majority of people understand this election is over," said Gov. Bob Taft, who was at the electors' voting session in the state Senate chamber.
The challengers who went to the Supreme Court question whether Bush won the key swing state by 119,000 votes, guaranteeing his victory over Democrat John Kerry.
The court did not act on their request before the electors cast their ballots.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson and attorney Cliff Arnebeck of the Massachusetts-based Alliance for Democracy accused President Bush's campaign of "high-tech vote stealing."
Jackson said the challengers noticed Bush generally received more votes in counties that use optical-scan voting machines and questioned whether the machines were calibrated to record votes for Bush.
The dissidents claim there were disparities in vote totals for Democrats, too few voting machines in Democrat-leaning precincts, organized campaigns directing voters to the wrong polling place and confusion over the counting of provisional ballots by voters whose names did not appear in the records at polling places.
If the court decides to hear the challenge, it can declare a new winner or throw out the results.
"While the existence of anomalies could possibly be explained by human error or technical malfunctions, the fact that, in every case in Ohio known to the contestors, the error favored the Bush-Cheney ticket, strongly indicates manipulation or fraud," the challengers said in a court filing.
Protesters had been expected to demonstrate outside the Capitol during the Electoral College vote, but none was present.
Congressional Democrats sent a letter to the governor on Monday, asking him to delay the electoral vote or at least consider the results unofficial until the disputes are resolved.
"The vote is required to move forward by law, and it will more forward," said Taft spokesman Orest Holubec. "The vote has been certified by the secretary of state, and all of the valid provisionals have been counted."
Carlo LoParo, spokesman for Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, said that for the challengers' accusations to be true, he said, officials of both parties would have had to conspire to throw the election.
"That's simply a ridiculous assertion," he said.
Led by a coalition representing the Green and Libertarian parties, the dissidents are paying for recounts in each of Ohio's 88 counties that will begin this week. The recounts are not expected to be complete until next week.
Kerry issued a statement last week saying reports of voting problems should be investigated to ensure there are no doubts in future elections. His campaign does not dispute that Bush won the election, but supports the recounts.
Ok, the Du is right. It was fraud but not the way they think. The electronic machines were wired so that when they touched the screen the machine took over the voters brains and forced them to vote for Bush. They had freewill to vote for anyone else but had to vote for Bush. Just to make it seem less suspicious, the machine only took over 1 out of 3 Dems brains. With Dems it was easy to control their brains. This is something I got from my wifes cousins uncles brothers wife. She got it from a janitor that works in the white house and over heard Bush talking about how they were going to do this. /sarcasm off
I dont feel sorry for the DUmmies.Its not a recount they want. They want to get a hold of the ballots in a back room somewhere,tear up the ones for Bush and replace them with,Lurch votes.I know this sounds ludicrois but these people think this way, they think they are doing good, the ends justifies the means, and they dont care how much they lie, cheat or steal to get their way. They are really nuts!
I heard it was 1 out every 4 Dems brains, but I may be wrong. </sarcasm)
Have you noticed these stories are all deviations of one AP story.
Same story except the AP adds a new line or two.
This line:
"If the court decides to hear the challenge, it can declare a new winner or throw out the results."
has appeared in several stories over the weekend. And it is completly wrong.
Those twenty votes are now on the way to the President of the Senate, VP Cheney. Signed, sealed, and delivered.
Nothing can stop that now.
=8-]
No it can't. Any state legislature with even a modicum of Constitutional understanding would tell the court to go pound sand.
It's long past time to remind the courts of the separation of powers and the LIMITED ROLE the Constitution gives the juidical branch. Ever since Jefferson declined to challenge Marshall, the courts have incrementally carved out an ever greater role for themselves in making U.S. policy. It's a role the Constitution does not give them.
Congress was the first branch of our government, and the one the founders thought most important. The same was true in the original state legislatures. The courts have no more right or standing to order either the federal or state legislatures around than I have. It's time Congress and the state legislatures began pushing back against the arrogance of the courts.
you know those people are just weird.
Shhhh. Don't tell them they can avoid the mind control by smearing themselves with petroleum jelly and making a hat out of heavy duty aluminum foil.
Some guy in New Jersey went too far the other day and coated his entire hotel room in petroleum jelly. On the other hand, he might have been hosting a caucus or precinct meeting.
It's not ludricous in the least. Remember in Florida when the Dem vote counters in Miami-Dade were packing up the ballots to take them upstairs to finish the counting away from the TV cameras, and the famous Republican "riot" ensued?
They were sure as hell gonna steal that one.
They would like to steal this one as well, but the margin is too big. So they will try to sow seeds of doubt with bogus fraud claims so they can bitch for the next four years.
At least some of them are still convinced Kerry will be taking the oath of office on Jan 20. They also believe Ohio Sec. of State Blackwell is going to be thrown in jail, and that President Bush is terrified because the jig is finally up.
So glad you enjoyed my post. No doubt I'll never get to play with the DUmmies again.
...and probably my last! BTW I am a her.
"If the court decides to hear the challenge, it can declare a new winner or throw out the results. "
"Uhhh! No it can't."
Agreed - the Constitution is real clear here. Once the Electors vote, it's over. The courts can try anything they want - but they won't get very far. It is out of their hands completely. As far as the Constitution is concerned, the election was today, and Bush won 282 to 255 (and one vote for Edwards).
No you haven't been "tombstoned" yet, and it looks as if more than a few of them agree with you wholeheartedly.
Too bad. Now, if only you'd used more icons...
BTW I am a her.
Me, too.
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