Ohio Honest Elections Campaign: Ohio Presidential Results to be Challenged

[StlMo]

Ohio Presidential Results to be Challenged


A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
By Steven Rosenfeld, Senior Producer, The Laura Flanders Show

Ohio’s 2004 presidential vote will be challenged in the state’s Supreme Court, a coalition of public-interest lawyers announced Friday, Nov. 19.

The lawyers have taken sworn testimony from hundreds of people in hearings in Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland and will use excerpts as well as documents obtained from county election officials and Election Day exit polls to make a case that thousands of votes were incorrectly counted or not counted on Election Day.

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"The sworn statements that we’ve received should give everyone cause to go forward in terms of this inquiry," said Robert Fitrakis, a lawyer, political science professor at Columbus State Community College, and editor at www.freepress.org, at the announcement.

The ‘Ohio Honest Election Campaign' is a coalition of public-interest groups and citizens interested in free and fair elections. The three lawyers announcing the challenge are associated with a variety of established groups. Arnebeck is the counsel for Common Cause’s Ohio chapter and The Alliance for Democracy. Attorney Susan Truitt is with Citizens Alliance for Secure Elections-Ohio, www.caseohio.org. The boards of groups have not yet formally endorsed the election challenge but are expected to do so in coming days.

The Honest Election campaign is part of a populist groundswell to safeguard voting rights. The 2004 campaign saw the most new voters in a generation. Even though Kerry conceded on Nov. 3, many people were not satisfied with national media explanations of the Ohio vote. Scientifically designed non-partisan exit polls taken during the day showed a different result from the result reported that night, when George W. Bush was declared the victor.

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Early in the week as those hearings were being held, the Green and Libertarian Parties announced they would seek a statewide recount. By midweek, the Ohio Democratic Party indicated they might be willing to train recount observers. As many as 3,000 volunteers may be needed. Then this past Friday, the Honest Election Campaign announced its intention to challenge presidential election result at the Ohio Supreme Court.

Others lawsuits may be announced next week, Arnebeck said, because there is limited time to hold a meaningful recount and to address election irregularities before the Electoral College meets in December.

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http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/04/11/con04509.html