DAILY UPDATE
Green Party
Monday, January 3, 2005
http://www.votecobb.org/recount/daily_update/
WEEK OF NATIONWIDE PROTESTS BEGINS
Momentum is building! Rev. Jesse Jackson, David Cobb, recount lawyer John
Bonifaz and many others are rallying in Columbus, Ohio today
<http://www.caseohio.org/CalendarEvents.htm> and in D.C. [at 10 am at
Lafayette Park and noon at the Capitol] on January 6
<http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2005/01/calendar-of-upcoming-events
.html> to demand that Congress reject Ohio's tainted Electoral College votes
and allow a fair and open re-count ‹ not like the one allowed by Secretary
of State Blackwell during December. Meanwhile, spontaneous protests are
being organized all across the country, such as a rally at 9 AM on January 6
at FBI headquarters in Washington to urge the FBI to investigate the
numerous allegations of vote-rigging and vote-suppression on November 2nd.
Reject Ohio's Tainted Electoral Votes
...........
Please contact your Representative <http://www.house.gov/> and Senators
<http://www.senate.gov/> and ask them to reject Ohio's Electoral College
votes, and conduct a full Congressional Investigation of the massive
disenfranchisement of minority voters in Ohio and elsewhere. Let's flood the
Senate with calls leading up to and on January 6th. The Capitol Hill
information number is 202-224-3121.
In addition, plan to join the demonstrations
<http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2005/01/calendar-of-upcoming-events
.html> starting January 3-6 in Ohio, Washington, D.C., and in your state
<http://www.51capitalmarch.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl>. This week will be a
crucial one for the future of democracy in this country. Those telling us to
"get over it" today are the same people who did so little to fix the tainted
election of 2000 that it happened again in 2004. This time, we are not going
to "get over it" until the lack of fair and transparent elections is
addressed!
............
Ohio Electors met on December 13 to cast votes for George Bush even though
the Ohio recount had not yet started. These tainted votes must be rejected
and a new recount ordered when Congress convenes on January 6 to count the
Electoral College votes.
Among the problems that must be remedied were the votes that the Ohio
Recount ‹ under Ohio law ‹ was not allowed to consider, because they were
never counted. These are the "spoiled" ballots, the rejected provisional
ballots, the people who were not allowed to cast a vote.
Thousands of Ohio voters, including elderly and disabled, and parents with
children, were forced to wait in line for hours in the rain and the cold. As
the video shows, many of these men and women, after standing in the rain for
hours waiting to vote, were turned away, given provisional ballots, or had
to leave and could not vote at all.
These are the people whose children stand on the front lines in Iraq. Who
will speak for these people? Who will defend and protect them on our own
shores? It is time to end this shameful chapter in American history once and
for all.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO PROTEST TAINTED ELECTIONS?
Protest activities
<http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2005/01/calendar-of-upcoming-events
.html> are moving to center stage this week, as broad coalitions
<http://www.donotconcede.com/FreedomWinter.html> are planning activities to
urge Congress to reject the tainted Electoral College votes from Ohio. Major
activitities are planned in Ohio on January 3, busloads of angry Ohioans are
coming to Washington to talk to their legislators before the Electoral
College votes are counted on January 6, and a major "March on Washington"
comparable to the Selma, Alabama freedom marches forty years ago, will start
in Baltimore on January 4 and end up in D.C. on January 6. Check for events
in your own communities where you can show your support for democracy and
your opposition to tainted elections.
Please email this page to others so we can raise public awareness and urge
our Representatives and Senators to reject the tainted Ohio Electoral votes
and order a full and fair recount in Ohio when Congress meets on January 6th
to count the Electoral College votes. Also, please be sure to post your
opinion in our new Ohio Recount Blog
<http://recountrecord.typepad.com/ohio_recount_blog/>!
COBB CALLS FOR FULL AND FAIR RECOUNT
David Cobb will be in Washington, DC on January 6, speaking at public
rallies and urging Congress to reject Ohio's Electoral College votes. On
December 30th, his attorneys filed an amended complaint
<http://www.votecobb.org/press/2004/dec/pr2004-12-30.php> in federal court,
demanding that the recount of Ohio's presidential vote be done again, this
time in conformance with state and federal law. Cobb will speak at a rally
in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, at 10 a.m., and at a
separate event later in the day at Upper Senate Park on Capitol Hill.
"The people of Ohio deserve to have their votes counted fairly and
accurately. The initial recount of Ohio's presidential vote was conducted
inconsistently, haphazardly and in clear violation of even Mr. Blackwell's
minimal standards. [And,] with the Ohio results still not final, it would be
inappropriate for Congress to certify the presidential vote, especially
while it is the subject of pending litigation in federal court," said Cobb.
"There's clearly a legitimate basis for a new recount. In a previous
hearing, the judge indicated that if the recount was not conducted in
accordance with uniform standards that we could petition the court for a new
recount," said Cobb-LaMarche Media Director Blair Bobier.