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Ohio hearings show massive GOP vote manipulation, but where the hell are the Democrats & John Kerry?

Columbus, Ohio---Hour after hour the testimonies are the same: angry Ohioans telling of vicious Republican manipulation and de facto intimidation that disenfranchised tens of thousands and probably cost the Democrats the election.

At an African-American church on Saturday and then at the Franklin County Courthouse Monday night, more than 700 people came to testify and witness to tales of the atrocity that was the November 2 election.

Organized by local ad hoc groups, the hearings had a court reporter and a team of lawyers along with other appointed witnesses. At freepress.org we will be making the testimonies available as they're transcribed and organized, and we will present a fuller accounting of the hearings, along with a book that includes the transcripts.

But one thing was instantly and abundantly clear: the Republican Party turned Ohio 2004 into an updated version of the Jim Crow South.

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Document reveals Columbus, Ohio voters waited hours as election officials held back machines

One telling piece of evidence was entered into the record at the Saturday, November 13 public hearing on election irregularities and voter suppression held by nonpartisan voter rights organizations. Cliff Arnebeck, a Common Cause attorney, introduced into the record the Franklin County Board of Elections spreadsheet detailing the allocation of e-voting computer machines for the 2004 election. The Board of Elections’ own document records that, while voters waited in lines ranging from 2-7 hours at polling places, 68 electronic voting machines remained in storage and were never used on Election Day.

The Board of Elections document details that there are 2886 “Total Machines” in Franklin County. Twenty of them are “In Vans for Breakdowns.” The County record acknowledges 2886 were available on Election Day, November 2 and that 2798 of their machines were “placed by close of polls.” The difference between the machines “available” and those “placed” is 68. The nonpartisan Election Protection Coalition provided legal advisors and observed 58 polling places in primarily African American and poor neighborhoods in Franklin County.

Play It Again Bush And Blair

President Yasir Arafat's coffin had barely touched the ground of his temporary tomb in Ramallah when United States President George Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair jointly made yet another statement on Middle East Peace. Setting aside the fact that the timing of the statement was disrespectful and showed ignorance of the Islamic custom of observing three days of mourning to respect the dead, Bush and Blair, seemingly jovial over Arafat's passing, offered yet another non-starter for moving the region from its never-ending peace process to a 'lasting peace.'

It is said that one can fool some of the people, some of the time, but not all the people, all of the time. President Bush and Prime Minister Blair can't possibly believe Palestinians will fall for the same tricks that have been thrown at them for years now. The substance of the most recent Bush-Blair statement on November 12 is nothing more that an unmasked and feeble attempt to fool all of the Palestinians, yet again.

Oslo

Enjoyed Fitrakis Column

I just finished reading None dare call it voter suppression and fraud by Bob Fitrakis.  

I really enjoyed the piece and appreciate all the supporting facts Mr Fitrakis used.  Too bad we can't get the major TV networks to do any investigative journalism anymore!  

Thank you.
  Rob Decker

Columbus election related video and audio

Listen to audio from the Election hearings in Columbus and see the events at the polls from Columbus, Ohio on Election Day!

The Neighborhood Network

Also check out http://www.pacifica.org/programs/election2004/20041117-postElectionSpecial.html and http://www.goxray.com/index.php?id=651&cat=5.

Also:

The Friday press conference where Cliff Anebeck, Susan Truitt and Bob Fitrakis announced their intention to contest the election in Ohio. The whole recording is 32 minutes long. You can hear Ohio Statehouse Nrews Bureau reporter Bill Cohen, Julia Carr-Smyth ( Plain Dealer), and Evan asking questions but the microphone remaioned trained on the speakers so the questions are faint. http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=10442

Harvey Wasserman's Essay

Dear Harvey,

Thanks for hitting the issue head-on.  I DO feel betrayed. When the judges allowed stand-by Republicans to challenge voters standing in line, I KNEW it was Florida repeated. Send me in the right direction.  Who do I support?

Will this effort continue?  Hope so. Found you on commondreams.org A little younger than I am, but a real product of the 60's. Carol Harkins

PS.  Our race for governor has still not been resolved, the national Dems could have waited, too.  If our ballots for governor have still not been counted, when is the final tabulation due on the presidential election?

Election fraud

Mr. Wasserman:

No need for confusion here: (1) Web articles clearly demonstrate to anyone with the intelligence of a Teddy Bear that Kerry "threw" the Election.

(2) Articles state that he will be walking off into the mists of time with millions of unspent campaign money.

(3) One article, with references, indicates that Mrs. Heinz-Kerry received a gold warehouse receipt worth 5 million (thanks, no doubt, for keeping a firm grip on our hero's testicles).

(4) Other speculation is that Dr. Dean was shot down early as a real threat to Bush so that a non-entitiy like Kerry, with the personality of a freshly opened oyster,  could impersonate a viable candidate for the public.

(5) Since it would offend many, I will not characterize those who ever thought Kerry had the chance of a snowbell in Hell.

(6) I was about to ramble on about corruption of the voting, but have been interrupted by an ominous knock at the door.

  Bob A.
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