Election Issues

Three contiguous counties in southwestern Ohio, all traditionally Republican counties, gave unexpectedly large margins to George W. Bush over John F. Kerry on election night.  All three counties experienced a huge increase in voter turnout.  In all three counties, Bush received a higher percentage of the vote than he did in the 2000 election, and Kerry received a lower percentage of the vote than Al Gore did in 2000.  This study analyzes how it happened.

In Warren County, the administrative building was locked down on election night, all in the name of "homeland security."  No independent persons were allowed to observe the vote count.  Compared to 2000, the population increased by 14.75%, the number of registered voters increased by 29.66%, voter turnout increased by 33.55%, Bush’s point spread increased from 42.24% to 44.58%, and Bush’s victory margin increased from 29,176 votes to 41,124 votes.

There’s a story to tell this Christmas season about evil and redemption, about hope for the future. No, it isn’t the one about King Herod and the Babe of Bethlehem. That story has been told thousands of times, and has inspired Christians and even many non-Christians for two millennia. The new Christmas story hasn’t been told, because as was the case in Palestine two thousand years ago, the public isn’t quite ready to receive the news. There’s no room in the inn…not yet, at least.

The United States of America began as a secular country that welcomes religion, not as a religious country that tolerates secular humanism. It is a nation of laws, not men. Our founding fathers were mostly God-fearing gentlemen, but contrary to popular belief, the late 18th-century was not a time when religious observances were prevalent. We’ve become a religious nation, which is good, but in the evolution we’ve lost sight of the guiding principles on which America was founded.

As of Oct. 18, 2004:
Democrats - 12,370
Republicans - 38,467
Independents - 74,316
Other - 12
Total - 125,165

As of Apr. 2, 2001:
Democrats - 7,637
Republicans - 32,686
Independents - 57,963
Other - 28
Total - 98,314

Percentage change from 2001 to 2004:
Democrats - +61.97%
Republicans - +17.69%
Independents - +28.21%

So clearly, registered Republicans heavily outnumber Democrats, but percentage-wise, there is quite a surge in Democratic registrations and Independents simply outnumber everyone else. Also, Democrats only consisted of about 7.8% of the voters in Warren County in early 2001, but in Oct. 2004, they were about 10% of all voters. Republicans made up 33.25% of all voters in Warren County in early 2001, but in Oct. 2004, they were only 30.7% of the electorate.

This refutes an earlier post from a few days ago stating that Warren County was "trending Republican." More results of my research will be forthcoming... please be patient.

So much for a free and fair exchange of ideas.  At conferences and hearings across the country, traditional voting rights organizations have successfully blocked any serious debate on machine-free, paper-only elections.  It appears that our well-entrenched so-called 'voting rights' organizations, including the NAACP and ACLU, haven't absorbed the lesson from America's election debacles.  They would rather invite the industry-funded National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) to speak at their conferences, than invite researchers and activists who will argue that the machines must go.  

Tuesday's Dec. 7th conference in Washington, D.C., Voting 2004: A Report to the Nation on America's Election Process, sponsored by Common Cause, The Century Foundation, and LCCR (Leadership Conference on Civil Rights) was no exception.  Instead of fighting for the peoples' right to a paper ballot and a hand count, the conference adopted the VerifiedVoting.org and Congressman Rush Holt's (D-NJ) prescription for voting integrity.  It is beyond worthless.  

Sinclair Broadcasting Group has tried to influence the outcome of elections long before the media company became a lightning rod for criticism due to its decision to air a controversial documentary ten days before the Nov. 2 election critical of Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry's activities during the Vietnam War.

Two years ago, Duncan Smith, vice president of Sinclair, gave then Maryland GOP gubernatorial candidate Robert Ehrlich extensive use of a luxury helicopter Smith owned and billed Ehrlich's campaign-at a discounted rate of $1,000 an hour-only after an inquiry by the Baltimore Sun. Smith's company, Whirlwind Aviation, Inc., rents out the aircraft for $2,500 an hour. "Ehrlich used the helicopter at least six times during and after the gubernatorial campaign," according to a Nov. 20, 2002 Baltimore Sun story. Smith said at the time that the remaining fee of more than $13,750 would be picked up by Whirlwind and listed by the company as an "in-kind" contribution to Ehrlich's campaign.

John F. Kerry gained ground on George W. Bush in Ohio after Election Day.  The official results, posted on December 2, 2004, include provisional ballots and some late-arriving absentee ballots.  The point spread between Bush and Kerry has been reduced by 0.30%, but this only begins to tell the story.

All the following tables show the official results on the first line, the unofficial results on the second line, and the difference on the third line.  The number of newly counted votes as a percentage of the total is posted beneath the name of the county.  State wide, this percentage was 2.62%.

COMPARISON OF RESULTS: STATE WIDE                

               Bush    % Bush     Kerry   % Kerry
Total      2,858,727   50.82%  2,739,952   48.70%
2.62%      2,792,244   50.97%  2,659,664   48.55%

Due to the formatting and footnoting utilized in this article, we have elected to print it as a pdf for ease of reading.

Read it now. (File size: 164 KB)

The following is the transcript from Bob Fitrakis’ speech at the December 4 Voting Rights demonstration at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus:

Thirty-two days ago, we voted in Ohio, and that election remains uncertified, threatening the core of our democratic system and our commitment to equal protection under our Constitution.

Now we are engaged in a great civil rights struggle, testing whether our nation, or any nation, so dedicated to democracy, can endure such voter suppression and election irregularities. We are gathered in the capitol of a great battleground state. We have come to dedicate ourselves to investigating the vote in all 88 counties, and pledge ourselves to counting every vote. Whatever the results may be. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this, just as the people of the Ukraine.

The epic legal battle over Ohio's presidential vote count is back in the state Supreme Court, with an election challenge claiming George W. Bush was wrongly declared the winner on Nov. 2 and seeking a court-ordered reversal of that victory.

Meanwhile, efforts to recount Ohio's vote may have been fatally tainted by the Republican Party, raising questions of what the GOP has to hide, and prompting demands for criminal prosecution.

New affidavits point to possible criminal activity by top Ohio election officials, raising yet more questions about the 2004 vote. Rhonda J. Frazier, a former employee of the Ohio Secretary of State's office, has confirmed in an affidavit taken by Cynthia Butler, working with freepress.org, that the Office had secret slush funds. Frazier says it also failed to comply with the requirements of "The Voting Reform Grant" that required all the voting machines in Ohio to be inventoried and tagged for security reasons.

As the whole world watches, American democracy may be hanging by a thread in Ohio.

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