Posted on 01/05/2005 2:01:41 PM PST by West Coast Conservative
WASHINGTON - The senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee protested President Bush's re-election Wednesday with a new report claiming serious election irregularities and "significant disenfranchisement" of voters in Ohio.
The report by Rep. John Conyers of Michigan says Congress should challenge the Electoral College vote when it is tallied Thursday in the House of Representatives and investigate all claims of voter problems in Ohio.
"We have found numerous, serious election irregularities in the Ohio presidential election," the report said. "There are ample grounds for challenging the electors from the state of Ohio."
Ohio's 20 electoral votes were critical for Bush's defeat of Democratic Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. A recount last week showed Bush winning Ohio by 118,457 votes over Kerry, according to an unofficial tally by The Associated Press.
The 102-page report titled "Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio?" lists such problems as unusually long lines, a shortage of voting machines in Democratic-leaning areas, confusion over provisional ballot rules and computer problems.
The report also contends there were widespread instances of intimidation and misinformation, improper purging of voter registration lists, a lack of inspection for about 93,000 ballots where no vote was cast for president, and vote totals not matching registration numbers or exit poll data.
"In many cases these irregularities were caused by intentional misconduct and illegal behavior, much of it involving Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, the co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio," the report said.
Carlo LoParo, a spokesman for Blackwell, called the report "ludicrous" and a waste of time and taxpayer dollars.
"There are absolutely no grounds for challenging Ohio's electors," LoParo said.
Meanwhile, a small group of House Democrats were looking for a Democratic senator to co-sponsor their challenge of Ohio's 20 electoral votes. A single senator supporting the effort would require the two chambers to meet separately and consider the objection. That scenario, however, would still ensure Bush's re-election because both bodies are controlled by Republicans.
Conyers and a few other Democrats have likened the Ohio results to the contested but much closer vote in Florida four years ago when Bush defeated Vice President Al Gore for the White House.
A small number of House Democrats challenged Florida's electoral votes in January 2001 but could not persuade a senator to join them.
They ought to stick their noses in WA. That's where the corruption is!!
They couldn't get a senator in 2000 but they might this time?? Oy. And how about the article saying it won't affect the election b/c republicans control Congress? How about because Bush won the election?
Conyers is pathetic and a disgrace. Bush won! Get over it!
We've outlawed the Baath party in Iraq, can we please outlaw the Democratic party and liberalism in general?
These dems are just freakazoid losers. They are laughable.
Let's see if Tom, Peter and Dan treat this as a legitimate story. I bet they do, instead of telling the truth, which is "Conyers is a KOOK!"
Well, it worked in Washington State.
A few weeks ago I would have said GOP picks up 2-4 Congressional seats in 2006. Because of this nonsense I will up it to 4-8. The DNCs lunacy knows no limits. The American people will watch this specatacle with astonishment and the Dems will be punished yet again at the ballot box.
The particular insanity that grips the Democrat Party seems to be contagious. I think all Democrats should be quarantined until proven they aren't infected with the illness.
Blackwell of Ohio, an African-American with credentials as long as your arm, and resume enough to make your head spin, is so much better than Conyers and his ilk ever dreamed of being, that he is a SERIOUS candidate for Governor of Ohio....a favorite son of conservatives.
He knows the law. He knows his election process, and except that he's a public figure, I'm sure he'd file suit for slander based on the line that says that Blackwell is guilty of "intentional misconduct and illegal behavior."
The black welfare club represented by Jackson, Kennedy, Boxer, Conyers, and the like, is partly bringing this report to the fore, I'm sure, to have something on the record to attack Blackwell with in the future when his name goes national.
Conyers is a POS!!!!
All he's doing is trying to deligitimize Dubya's win (Like they've tried to do since 2000). I'll be eager to pay this bastard back!!
Yeah, Conyers is overlooking the something like 3 million vote lead, and clear majority nationwide, Bush had in the popular vote.
If I think that Conyers is an @sshole, does that make me a racist?
Gee, I hope not.
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