A handful of progressive Democrats in the House and a lone Senator, Barbara Boxer of California, forced the Republican-dominated Congress to hear two hours of protest Thursday about how the 2004 presidential vote was replete with efforts to disenfranchise Democratic voters and suppress turnout in a torrent of tactics reminiscent of the Jim Crow era.

“We have spent our lives fighting for things we believe in – always fighting to make our nation better,” Boxer told the joint session. “We have fought for social justice. We have fought for economic justice. We have fought for environmental justice. We have fought for criminal justice. Now we must add a new fight – the fight for electoral justice.”

By invoking a law used twice since 1877, Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, D-OH, and Sen. Boxer, stopped Congress’ ratification of the 2004 Electoral College vote by challenging the Ohio results. That forced Vice President Dick Cheney, the presiding officer, to order each chamber to debate the merits of the Ohio vote for two hours. A week earlier, Cheney refused to accept a notice of deposition in a lawsuit challenging the results of 2004 Ohio presidential vote.

Resulting Democrats' speeches stressed voters rights, equality, reform. Republicans' speeches attempted obfuscation, avoided consideration of serious electoral reform.

C-SPAN broadcast of hearings available online: http://www.c-span.org.

For information about the merits of the contest, please see the Election 2004 Department, and particularly:

The "Crime of November 2":  The human side of how Bush stole Ohio, and why Congress must investigate rather than ratify the Electoral College (Part Two of Two)

Seven key reasons why the vote must be challenged at the electoral college

Ten preliminary reasons why the Bush vote does not compute, and why Congress must investigate rather than certify the Electoral College (Part One of Two)

It’s too bad the position of the Attorney General of the United States is so vital to the legal, moral and psychological health of the country. After all, if it wasn’t so important, maybe we could just do without one for the next four years.

That’s the only conclusion that can be drawn as we watch the confirmation process in the United States Senate for Alberto Gonzales, President Bush’s nominee for Attorney General. Whenever the best candidate you can find for a law enforcement position has had to promise not to willfully and egregiously break the law and ignore worldwide standards for human rights, maybe the job should simply be left empty for a while.

Gonzales, as you know, was picked by Bush to head up the Justice Department’s Attorney General Office following news that the current officeholder, John Ashcroft, was stepping down. Throughout his four years on the job, Ashcroft himself managed to set new standards in ignoring human rights, detaining suspects indefinitely, and otherwise flouting the law, particularly when it came to Muslim immigrants and suspected terrorists in the wake of Sept. 11.

Tomorrow (Thursday, January 6) Congress will host an unprecedented Constitutional showdown over the future of American democracy. 

It rises from a catalog of abuses that poisoned the November 2 presidential balloting in Ohio. Taken together, these attacks on the democratic process shifted Ohio's vote from John Kerry to George W. Bush, giving him the presidency.
 
Other states, most notably New Mexico and Florida, suffered similar problems, casting a dark shadow of doubt over the alleged 3.5 million-vote nationwide edge claimed by Bush. 
 
By virtue of an 1887 law passed in response to the contested election of 1876, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (D-OH) and others will challenge the seating of Ohio's electors.  If joined by a single Senator, Congress for the first time will debate the outcome of a presidential election as determined by the Electoral College. 
 

1. Exit Polls Did Not Match Actual Vote in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida

The gulf between the exit polls and counted votes was glaring. The Zogby Poll and the media consortium poll (including CNN and AP) had Kerry winning an electoral landslide with 53% and 51% respectively in Ohio. Why did exit polls match the actual vote in the nation – EXCEPT for Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania?

Exit polls are considered the most accurate measurement of the vote. Exit polls were responsible for calling for a revote in the Ukraine. The odds of the exit polls being outside the margin of error in these three battleground states are about 155 million to one. The exit poll data has never been released. There must be an investigation of the exit poll disparities.

2. Voting machines owned by private, partisan companies subject to manipulation

Voting machine tampering occurred throughout the state. In Mahoning County, votes “hopped” from Kerry to Bush. In Franklin County, votes for Kerry “faded” away. In Lucas County, Diebold machines froze up and rejected ballots in pro-Kerry precincts.