| GREEN
& LIBERTARIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TO DEMAND OHIO RECOUNT
Nov. 11, 2004 - David Cobb and
Michael Badnarik, the 2004 presidential candidates for the
Green and Libertarian parties, today announced their intentions
to file a formal demand for a recount of the presidential
ballots cast in Ohio.
“Due to widespread reports
of irregularities in the Ohio voting process, we are compelled
to demand a recount of the Ohio presidential vote. Voting
is the heart of the democratic process in which we as a nation
put our faith. When people stand in line for hours to exercise
their right to vote, they need to know that all votes will
be counted fairly and accurately. We must protect the rights
of the people of Ohio, as well as all Americans, and stand
up for the right to vote and the right for people’s
votes to be counted. The integrity of the democratic process
is at stake,” the two candidates said in a joint statement.
The candidates also demanded that
Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican who
chaired the Ohio Bush campaign, recuse himself from the recount
process.
The Ohio presidential election
was marred by numerous press and independent reports of voter
intimidation, mis-marked and discarded ballots, problems with
electronic voting machines and the targeted disenfranchisement
of African American voters. A number of citizens’ groups
and voting rights organizations are holding hearings this
Saturday in Columbus, Ohio to investigate voting irregularities
and voter suppression in the Ohio 2004 general election. The
hearings will be held from 1-4 p.m. at the New
Faith Baptist Church, 955 Oak Street. Voters, poll workers,
journalists and voting experts are invited to testify. A second
hearing will be held on Monday at a location TBA, from 6-9
p.m.
The Cobb and Badnarik campaigns
are in the process of raising the required fee, estimated
at $110,000, for filing for a complete recount. The campaigns
are accepting contributions through their websites. The Cobb-LaMarche
website is http://www.votecobb.org/.
The Badnarik-Campagna contribution page is https://badnarik.org/.
The Cobb and Badnarik campaigns
have displayed a level of cooperation and civility rarely
found in electoral politics. The campaigns jointly participated
in and/or sponsored a series of independent debates. Cobb
and Badnarik were also simultaneously arrested in St. Louis
protesting their exclusion from the restricted, two-party
corporate-sponsored debates.
To see an investigative report
by Greg Palast, author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy,
which asserts that the Ohio vote was improperly decided, see
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/kerry_won.php.
For an article detailing a dozen
ways in which the Ohio vote was potentially manipulated, see
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/810.
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