The right to vote is supposed to mean something in the United States. The idea of going to war overseas in the name of the democratic process while making a mockery of that process here at home is just too ludicrous.
However, it appears that is exactly what has happenned and is ongoing. As documented, the outcome of the 2004 election raises serious doubts as to whether or not the correct person is presently occupying the White House and exercising all of the powers of the Presidency.
In addition, extremely serious questions are being raised, both in print and in court about the integrity and use of the electronic voting machines that were purchased.
continued
As was written in the NYT and elsewhere, in 2004, the exit polls appeared to indicate that Senator John Kerry had enough votes to be elected President, despite reports of
on the thuggish practice (by the Jeb Bush administration) of sending armed state police officers into the homes of elderly black voters in Orlando to “investigate” allegations of voter fraud.
It is also written that all of the glitches, foul-ups in Ohio, new rules and regulations favored Bush. Specifically:
* the shortages of voting machines and
* the long lines with
* waits of seven hours, if not longer
all occurred in urban areas which were projected to be Senator Kerry’s base in Ohio.
In addition, Walter E. Mebane performed an analysis of the vote in Franklin County, including Columbus. Mebane conclued,
“The allocation of voting machines in Franklin County was clearly biased against voters in precincts with high proportions of African-Americans.”
Mebane also compared the distribution of voting machines for the 2004 presidential election with that of machines for the previous spring’s primary. As a result, he concluded that no bias re: the distribution of voting machines was present. However, for the general election, Mebane reached a different conclusion, namely,
“There was substantial bias,with fewer voting machines per voter in areas that were heavily African-American.”
Mebane was unable to determine if the bias distribution/use of voting machines in the general election was “intentional.”
However, Mitch Given, a registered lobbyist for Diebold Election Systems, gave Kenneth Blackwell the maximum $10,000.00 donation. Additionally, that donation was confirmed by a Blackwell spokesman, Carlo LoParo. It follows that Ken Blackwell is accountable for accepting that donation.
Accountability is an interesting word to use, as reported by the BBC, on January 16, 2005, Bush said there was no need to hold any of his officials accountable for mistakes or misjudgements in pre-war planning or managing the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq.
Additionally, Bush was quoted,
“We had an accountability moment, and that’s called the 2004 election.”
Oh really?
xposted at epm and at MLW
What he meant was “That’s the closest thing to accountability you’re ever going to see again, sucker…”
Thanks Street Kid. It’s amazing how ruined our country has become since we gave Republicans the keys, isn’t it?
More like hot-wired?
The fix is in, in just so many ways it’s hard to keep track of.
One example is the treatment of ex-felons. With a disproportionate number of these being black the result is that the black vote is further diminished.
Another example has to do with apportionment. Today there is a story about population loss in up state NY. As an aside in the article it says there would have been a net loss in the region except for the fact the over 20,000 new inmates are being held in local prisons. By counting these people in rural areas instead of in their home district the electoral power is shifted to conservative areas. Not only don’t these people get to vote, but they get counted when districts are set up, a double whammy.
Finally add in the power of incumbency and you see how difficult creating change will be. In the last election 94% of incumbents who ran again got re-elected. That’s a steep hill to climb.