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Ohio Winner Officially Still in Question
By Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs
Posted December 1, 2004 -- Almost a month has passed since American voters handed President George W. Bush a second term, and in Ohio, the state that clinched his victory, controversy over the outcome still simmers.
Independent voter advocacy groups and candidates from small, alternative political parties dispute the results that say Bush beat his Democratic challenger, John Kerry, by roughly 136,000 votes.
They cite exit polls that pointed to a Kerry victory and say Bush supporters used a number of questionable tactics to win the state. They also contend that long lines and faulty machinery helped suppress the vote in predominately African-American and other precincts that were prone to vote Democratic. Observers are also keeping an eye on approximately 155,000 provisional ballots that were given to voters whose names did not appear on the electoral rolls.
Their efforts include:
• A request by David Cobb and Michael Badnarik, presidential candidates for the Green and Libertarian parties, respectively, for a recount of all ballots after votes. Cobb and Badnarik must raise about $113,000 to pay for the tally. Ohio law allows a candidate to have ballots recounted if the candidate pays the expenses.
• A suit by People for the American Way, a national civil rights and constitutional liberties group, asking that 8,000 provisional ballots rejected by the Cuyahoga County board of election officials be included in the county’s final vote count. The lawsuit said the ballots should have been checked against voter registration cards instead of “electronic roll voting lists, which are known to contain errors.” Cleveland is in Cuyahoga County. .
• A series of hearings to collect testimony on alleged irregularities and foul-ups at the polls. The sessions were conducted in Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland, three major Democratic strongholds.
Some of those questioning the election say they don’t expect to change the outcome. Instead, they want to make sure Ohio in 2004 didn’t mirror Florida in 2000, where Blacks were systematically kept from casting their ballots.
Toledo attorney Dick Kerger, who represented Cobb and Badnarik, was familiar with various conspiracy theories that say Kerry, not Bush won in Ohio. Kerger, said his clients only wanted to make sure the electoral process was clear and transparent.
“Until we do that, we’re going to have the opportunity for these to develop,” he said.”
But other challengers were more outspoken.
“The Republican motivation was to reduce Democratic vote,” said Cliff Arnebeck of legal affairs director for Ohio Common Cause. The non-profit organization has been at the forefront of challenges to the election outcome.
Arnebeck said his group will ask the Ohio Supreme Court to overturn the election.
“In Florida there was targeting of Black voters by skewing the felony lists in 2000. “The same thing applies (in Ohio) but the efforts were different,” he said.
But Carlo LoParo, a spokesman for the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, said the challenges are premature. He noted the county boards of election are still in the process of verifying ballots, and have until Dec. 1. to give their totals to the state officials. The secretary of state will certify the election between Dec. 3 and 6, LoParo said.
News of the challengers’ efforts is seeping beyond Ohio’s borders.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson has called for the Congress to look into the state’s election process.
And the General Accountability Office, which oversees the workings of the federal government, has agreed to investigate the procedures used to tally votes in the national election. Democratic legislators requested the investigation.
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