[Peace-discuss] Ohio hearings

[Lisa Chason]

Ohio hearings show massive GOP vote manipulation, but where the hell are
the Democrats & John Kerry?
November 17, 2004

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
<http://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. 

The principle overt method of vote suppression was to short-change inner
city precincts of sufficient voting machines to allow a timely
balloting. In precinct after precinct, virtually all of them
predominantly black, poor, young and Democratic, the lines stretched for
two, five, eight, even eleven hours. The elderly and infirm were forced
to stand in the rain while city officials threatened to tow their cars.
No chairs or shelter were provided. Crucial signage was mysteriously
missing. Thousands came to vote, saw the long lines and left. 

How many thousands? Enough to turn the election? Almost definitely. 

None of this was accidental. This was a well-planned GOP attack on the
right to vote, and on Democratic candidacies. Republican Secretary of
State Kenneth Blackwell was also co-chair of the Ohio campaign for Bush.
A right-wing Republican was in charge of the Franklin County Board of
Elections. 

They all said the election went "smoothly." By their standards they were
right. At least 68 voting machines sat in a warehouse while precinct
managers called desperately for help. Republican precinct judges and
challengers harassed would-be voters. The names of long-time activists
mysteriously disappeared from registration lists. The arsenal of dirty
tricks was virtually endless. 

With it the Bush/Rove team deprived countless Ohioans of their right to
vote just as surely as if they'd levied a poll tax or invoked the
grandfather clause. 

In the coming days we'll issue a more complete accounting of these
devastating hearings. No one who cares about democracy and fears the
consequences of its destruction could come away from them without being
both infuriated and terrified. 

But one thing also stood out---the complete lack of Democratic support
for these hearings or for the larger vote count movement. Nationally, it
all stands in the shadow of the complete disappearance of John Kerry, on
whose nominal behalf this was done. 

A successful grassroots effort involving the Green and Libertarian
Parties, among others, has raised---in just four days---some $150,000 to
force a recount of the Ohio vote. (Ralph Nader has forced a similar
recount in New Hampshire). But where were the countless millions raised
by the Democratic Party and Kerry campaign by trusting American citizens
who expected them to fight for democracy? 

Right up to election day Kerry repeated his solemn vow to, in light of
what happened in Florida 2000, guarantee everyone's right to vote. But
now that another highly dubious election has occurred, where the hell is
he? 

Rumors are circulating that he is biding his time, waiting for the right
time to jump in. Or that the Democrats themselves have something to
hide. Or that there's a magic bullet just waiting to be fired. 

Similar rumors spread about Al Gore four years ago. We're still waiting
for that fateful shot. 

This election was not about apathy. Tens of thousands of smart, eager,
fiercely dedicated volunteers came out this year, desperate to rid this
nation of the curse of George W. Bush. 

An escalating avalanche of evidence indicates a true vote count would
have thrown Bush out of the White House. 

But once again, the Democrats have dissed the grassroots. Once again, a
candidate who promised democracy has disappeared with barely a whimper
in the face of those who would destroy it. His silence has allowed an
orgy of media bloviation in homage to a bigoted, war-crazed America
that, if it won at all, took this election not by national consensus,
but by the Rovian staples of dirty tricks and voter suppression. 

The upcoming Ohio recount is fraught with danger. The Republicans
battled successfully to prevent the state's voting machines from
including paper trails that can be reasonably recounted. These "black
boxes" will require extreme sophistication to be properly evaluated.
Unless intensely supervised down to the last detail, the Republicans who
control these machines will turn this recount into a "proof" that the
election "went smoothly." 

So a true recount will require serious additional financial resources
and a very aggressive, well-organized team. So far we hear not a peep
from the mainstream Democrats. So far, they seem utterly deaf to the
cries of fury and despair from those who were so wrongly deprived of
their right to vote. 

Democracy itself was lynched in Ohio on November 2, by both high and low
tech means. Our freedoms may be the ultimate victim. But where is the
Democratic Party? 

-------------------------
HARVEY WASSERMAN'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES is available through
www.harveywasserman.com. He is senior editor of www.freepress.org.

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