Public hearings in Ohio 11/13 & 11/15

[Carolab]

PUBLIC HEARINGS IN OHIO!


They might have conceded - but we haven't conceded our right to have our votes count.

The Ohio Citizens Alliance for Secure Elections (CASE-OH), This Time We're Watching, the League of Young Voters, People for the American Way Foundation - a leading member of the Election Protection Coalition, Common Cause Ohio, Ohio Election Reform Now, Columbus Institute for Contemporary Journalism, WVKO Radio, and Ohio Voterization Project are calling for public hearings to investigate voting irregularities and vote suppression in Ohio surrounding the 2004 General Election.

THIS IS A NONPARTISAN STATEWIDE CALL TO ACTION. VOTERS AND POLL WORKERS FROM AROUND THE STATE ARE INVITED TO TESTIFY.

Saturday November 13, 1-4 PM
New Faith Baptist Church
955 Oak Street
Columbus, Ohio 43205

Monday November 15, 6-9 PM,
Auditorium (Meeting Room A)
Courthouse, 373 S. High St.
Columbus, OH

Voters, poll workers, and poll watchers who experienced or observed election
irregularities or vote suppression on Election Day to come forward and
give their testimony.

Legislators, experts on voting rights, election protection, electoral reform, and election law will also present.


http://indyvoter.org/index.php

[laheina]

1. I can't wait to hear how this turns out

If anyone has any further info, please post.

thanks!

[HEAVYHEART]

2. Same here

If anyone has any info on how this turned out, please share. Kicking this baby up for now!

[WiseFawn]

3. It was a great turnout!

It even got some local media attention, but two channels totally spun it. It was set for three hours, but so many showed up with so much to say that it went way over!
People came from all across Ohio. I was so glad, but it had only been advertised on the Internet.
Many of the people speaking were voters, about provisional ballots, long lines, not being able to vote at all. The kids from the college that stood in line for over ten hours were there.
Lawyers showing proof of the way minorities were treated in Ohio election.
It's supposed to be on C-Span, but not sure when.
But there is still another one on Monday! There were camera crews everywhere and hundreds of people.

[HEAVYHEART]

4. Great!

That is just friggin awesome! God I wish I coulda been there. What pisses me off is, you know we're not gonna hear of this, on the mainstream media whore channels. Thanks for the info. Got me all pumped up this morning. hehe. I'm thinking about starting a protest in my hometown. Thanks for the update.

[idiosyncratic]

13. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Helga Scow Stern]

15. This is a way for the truth to come out.

[txindy]

19. Very glad to hear that you are being listened to in Ohio

I can't imagine the frustration I would feel if I was one of those voters in your state. It's upsetting to me now. It would be so much worse to live it. I hope they resolve this to some degree. No, actually, I hope they completely resolve this, but I'm an optimist, so... ;)

Welcome to DU, OhioVotes! :hi:

[kk897]

5. I was there and testified

Hi all--I was at the hearing, or the "hearing" as the Cincinnati Enquirer styled it. Don't you think the quote marks make it look like we were just calling it a hearing or that it wasn't really a hearing?... sad.

Anyway, it went on for hours. Lots of people came forward to tell their election stories, including poll judges, workers, people who had volunteered for various voter protection organizations, and folks who stood on line.

Some of the stories were just awful. For instance, one woman came forward to testify on behalf of her bereaved friend. This woman's husband DIED while she waited in line for three hours to vote. In another story, a voter spoke to a poll worker about some procedural issue, and the woman said, "Well, we don't want Muslims voting." A volunteer told of a senior who had been denied an absentee ballot because he hadn't been in the hospital long enough, so he showed up at the polling place on a stretcher with an IV hooked up. Many, many stories concentrated on the length of the lines, including Kenyon College students, who waited for 10 to 12 hours and in fact ended up voting on the 3rd since it went on so long. Lots of poll workers mentioned that they saw people giving up and leaving before voting. The stories went on and on.

There were some media there. I, myself, for some reason, was pulled away by a 10TV (CBS affiliate in Columbus) reporter who interviewed me. I don't think I gave a good interview because I was quite nervous, and besides, they didn't end up using it, but at least the station covered it. There have been articles in the Columbus Dispatch, the LA Times, if you can believe it, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer (that I've found so far this morning). After I gave my testimony, which was about a misdirected memo I found that may show that the Republicans used the practice of "redlining" for challenging voters in the 23rd district, which I think is in Cuyhoga County (that info was really hard to find, actually), a reporter from I really think he said the New York Times asked if he could email me for further information. I was so exhausted at that point from nerves that I may not have heard the newspaper right, but I did hear him say something like he was working for Amy Goodman, who might be interested in it. Sorry to be so vague on this point.

Oh yeah, about an hour into it, they announced that there were lots of tow trucks towing people from around the church where the meeting was held, which seemed to me like a petty little tactic from the city to try to keep people from testifying or from observing. About 20 people left at that point, but I don't know if they came back or not.

I think there was a report at least about the meeting, if not from the meeting, on The Laura Flanders Show on Air America Radio.

That was my experience... if you have any questions about it, I'll try to answer them.

[fasttense]

8. Thank You

Thank you for going and telling the truth. I wish I could be there but I'm in TN. Just know that my heart and prayers are with you.

[TexasChick]

9. My God!! '"Well, we don't want Muslims voting."' WTF!!! And, the

Repuketards were "redlining" folks? Didn't Palast just posted something to his website the other day about having proof of "redlining" folks? Isn't this illegal or something?


The man with the IV???? Good grief!!

[Eloriel]

11. Thanks so very much -- for your report, for being there

(I'm crying. We've GOT to lick this thing.)

And a hearty welcome to DU. We've gotten SO many absolutely wonderful new members in the last week or so -- it's humbling, actually. I love you all.

:toast:

[laheina]

21. Thank you for being our representative, our eyes, and our ears.

Thank you not only for attending kk897, but also for testifying, and for telling us about it! Air America has been reporting about it on and off, and there should be lots of stuff tomorrow (Monday).

And for everybody at DU that has been so nice and patient with the influx of election refugees, thank you too.

[idiosyncratic]

14. Welcome to DU, kk897!

:hi:

[illuminaughty]

22. Great stories! Thanks for keeping us informed

I exchanged e-mails with an interested person from WBCE in Columbus. Her name was Alison Holm. They did some coverage on election night and she's one of the few humans who actually responded to an e-mail.

So, you might give them a heads up. I sent her here and she said she was going to check it out because she couldn't believe all the responses she was getting, wondered where it was coming from.

Thanks for fighting in Ohio.

[WiseFawn]

6. An interesting thing..

One of the lawyers said something that I did not know. It was already illegal under Ohio law for gays to marry here.

[rehema]

7. Ohio voters tell of Election Day troubles at hearing

Here is a news article that I posted elsewhere

Ohio voters tell of Election Day troubles at hearing

Tales of waiting more than five hours to vote, voter intimidation, under-trained polling-station workers and too few or broken voting machines largely in urban or heavily minority areas were retold Saturday at a public hearing organized by voter-rights groups.

For three hours, burdened voters, one after another, offered sworn testimony about Election Day voter suppression and irregularities that they believe are threatening democracy.

The hearing, sponsored by the Election Protection Coalition, was to collect testimony of voting troubles that might be used to seek legislative changes to Ohio's election process.

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1100428444286470.xml

[mahina]

10. Thank you for that...it's going up on the bb in my gym in Honolulu.

I appreciate that...

[idiosyncratic]

12. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[ctsteve]

16. VIP voter parking for Republicans

I am new to this forum

I am interested in stories, pictures and videos of the long voter lines.

Thanks

Over at Kos I have the following diary:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/14/133927/76
VIP voter parking for Republicans
Long voter lines for hard workers and college students


Yesterday on Air America's Laura Flanders show election fraud was the topic. Of interest was a discussion on how lines were much longer in urban Democratic polling places than in rural and suburban Republican ones.

Nov 13 - Air America - Laura Flanders Show - Audio
http://www.airamericaplace.com/archive.php?mode=display&id=863

Jobs are scarce in Ohio these days. First priority is to feed the family by keeping your job or going to class. That is why it is so disturbing to hear that many Democrats could not afford to wait in line for over two hours, in many areas many more hours.

There are many stories that voting machines were plentiful in Republican districts, in fact many machines were moved there from the Democratic districts.

This isn't a Republican or Democrat issue, but of honoring one of the core rights of our nation. - Voting

[TexasChick]

17. Good lord, how sickening! I knew that they would pull crap like this! I'm

glad that they are having these hearings!

[WiseFawn]

18. Perry County

Joe Popich, a field organizer for the Kerry campaign has a copy of a Perry County poll that he says has discrepancies! Columbus Dispatch

[newyawker99]

20. Hi ctsteve!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[barbeed]

23. Just Bumping!

I read this last night and had to go to page 3 to locate it for a friend. Perhaps others haven't read this thread, so here's a kick for my first post.

Dianne