IS THERE HOPE???

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Ohio Electoral Fight Becomes 'Biggest Deal Since Selma' as GOP Stonewalls
By Bob Fitrakis, Steve Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman
The Free Press

Wednesday 22 December 2004

Columbus - As Republican officials stonewall subpoenas and subvert the
recount process, Rev. Jesse Jackson has pronounced Ohio's vote fraud fiasco
"the biggest deal since Selma" and has called for a national rally at "the
scene of the crime" in Columbus January 3.

Another major national demonstration will follow in Washington on
January 6, as Congress evaluates the Electoral College. Should at least one
US Representative and one Senator challenge the electors' votes, a
Constitutional crisis could ensue.

Meanwhile, volunteer attorneys have poured into Columbus from around the
US to help investigate the bitterly contested presidential vote that has
allegedly given George W. Bush Ohio's electoral votes and thus a second
term. A lawsuit filed at the Ohio Supreme Court charges that a fair vote
count would give the state and the presidency to John Kerry rather than
Bush.

On December 21, notice of depositions were sent to President George
Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and Ohio Secretary of State J.
Kenneth Blackwell to appear and give testimony regarding the legal challenge
of Ohio's elections results in the case Moss v Bush et al.

But Republican Blackwell's attorney at the Secretary of State's office
told the attorneys issuing the notice of deposition and subpoena that
Blackwell will not testify under oath. The Republican-controlled Attorney
General's office has labeled any attempt to put Blackwell under oath,
"harassment." Blackwell supervised the November 2 vote in Ohio at the same
time he served as co-chair of the state's Bush-Cheney campaign.

However, some counties like Clarmont have agreed to cooperate with the
attorneys in the election challenge. On December 22, a team of attorneys
descended upon the Clarmont County Board of Elections between 8:30-10:30am
to pour over election day records.

In a December 21 conference call with activists from the around the US,
Jackson said he has urged Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
to stand with US Representatives who intend to challenge the Electoral
College's expected approval of George W. Bush for a second term. A challenge
by US Representatives in 2000 failed because no Senators would join their
motion.

Jackson says this year will be different, urging election protection
activists to stay focused over the holiday season. "We can't let [the
Republicans] get away with this, he told the conference call. "Do not
underestimate the outrage of the people. We are a legitimate force for
democracy, here and around the world."

"We will count every vote," he said, and make sure "every vote counts."

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and other members of the Congressional Black
Caucus have strongly questioned Bush's purported victory, pointing out that
more than half the votes cast in Ohio and the nation were recorded on
electronic voting machines owned by Republicans, with no audit trail.

Conyers recently conducted hearings at Columbus City Hall to take
testimony from Ohioans who were deprived their right to vote. Another public
hearing in Mahoning Valley, at the Warren Heights and Trumball Library,
documented "thousands of complaints of voting irregularities" that helped
throw the vote count to Bush. Election observers have testified under oath
that more than a dozen voting machines in Mahoning County regularly switched
Kerry votes to Bush votes while voters watched in amazement. Some 580 more
absentee voters were certified than were identified by election board
officials. As in Franklin and other counties, there were also strategic
machine shortages in largely Democratic precincts. The November vote, said
one observer, was "the crime of the century."

As dozens of volunteer attorneys pour into the state to help with the
recount, Blackwell's stonewall has prompted widespread suspicion about what
the Republicans are hiding.

On Monday the expanded legal team issued subpoenas to top election
officials in 10 counties where vote-count fraud is suspected.

The rapid filing of subpoenas, the first step in interviewing people
under oath, provoked the shrill rejection from Blackwell. Though Blackwell
is a state constitutional officer, his business office is in a private
building, where protesters - including former California Congressman Dan
Hamburg - -have been arrested without apparent provocation.

"They huffed and they puffed, trying to bully people around," said
attorney Peter Pectarsky, a key member of the election challenge legal team.
"Now we're fighting over discovery. We served 10 depositions. The attorney
general blew a gasket. They filed a motion to stop it