Why not just investigate this election?

[ProSense]

It appears to be an objective article, citing the widespread discrepancies, tampering and vote suppression. From Dan Tokaji's Blog:

Friday, June 2

Back to Ohio: The Rolling Stone Piece

Snip...

Real Problems

...Foremost among the decisions that might reasonably be questioned are his order not to count provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct, and the order (later rescinded) to require that registration forms be on 80-lb. paper weight...

...Kennedy estimates (based partly on my work) that 66,000 votes were lost due to unreliable voting equipment. This seems to me a reasonable estimate if we include the votes lost due to non-notice punch-card and optical scan systems.

...While it's difficult to measure with any degree of precision how many votes were lost due to long lines, this undoubtedly was a serious problem that discouraged some people from voting.

A Grain of Salt

- Kennedy describes a group of Republican operatives known as the "Mighty Texas Strike Force" which allegedly "us pay phones to make intimidating calls to likely voters."...since the Conyers Report was relying on a statement made at a hearing by someone other than the hotel worker -- if true it's obviously very troubling.

Snip...

To summarize: There's no doubt that some votes were lost due to faulty voting technology (let's say 66,000). There were also likely some voters whose provisional ballots weren't counted due to registration errors (the most that this could possibly be is 35,000). Add to that voters who report leaving the polls without casting a ballot (174,000, generously estimated), and you've still only got a total of 275,000 lost votes-- and keep in mind that this is indulging very optimistic assumptions in Kerry's favor. If my algebra is right, Kerry would still have had to pick up about 196,500 of those lost votes, or over 71%, in order to tie Bush, given the 118,000 margin of victory. Perhaps not beyond the realm of possibility, but not very likely.

On the exit polling (hard to swallow but not without doubt):

Even if this is true, however, it doesn't tell us who those voters completing the exit survey in Bush strongholds were -- or more precisely, whom they supported. More specifically, it doesn't eliminate the possibility that Kerry voters in Bush strongholds were more likely to speak with interviewers than were Bush voters in those strongholds.

The most important question we now face, however, is not whether Kerry really won. It is instead what ought to be done about the very real and serious problems that emerged in Ohio and other states in 2004, which Kennedy exhaustively documents, for the most part quite accurately.

http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/blogs/tokaji/2006/06/back-to-ohio-rolling-stone-piece.html


This is just Ohio. Everything Tokaji mentions from the "Real Problems" to the "Hard to Swallow," can only be cleared up by a thorough investigation.



Yet on left blogs, RFK Jr.'s article is being scrutinized using Manjoo's Salon article:

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/7588.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_digbysblog_archive.html#114935027329276958


It seems a lot of people simply view this as too large an undertaking or too complex.

Isn't dealing with fraud, the crime, part of the solution, ensuring an understanding of what really happened and who was involved?

[MissWaverly]

1. I don't understand how we can look for Jimmy Hoffa

and not look at the 2004 election results, even if they find his body, only 2 of those suspected
of doing away with him are still alive. Election fraud is real, it's undermines our country,
it's like our country is run by those who seek to undermine it and we keep giving them the keys
to the car. Why can't we do this, if there is no money, they could ask people to donate, I donated for the recount which was sabotaged. Do we get the recount that we were cheated out of, the recount that would have proved vote tampering. There is no mention of this, just glib talk that the confidence in elections has been undermined. I don't care if that adds 6 months to some campaign felons sentence at Camp Cupcake. I want real investigations into vote tampering.

[undeterred]

2. that would be too easy

[jerry611]

3. It's a little late for that

We're already two years into the presidential term.

Plus you impeach and all it does is follow the line of succession acording to the 25th amendment. Kerry can't become president no matter how much fraud.

If Bush and Cheney both committed fraud, that doesn't mean the whole admin is out. It just means Dennis Hastard takes over the White House.

Once the Electoral College votes, the election is offical.

[ProSense]

4. It's never too late for justice and discovering the truth! n/t

[MH1]

8. People can still go to jail - or more likely, laws can be written so that

next time, people who pull this shit can go to jail.

[rucky]

5. Haven't you gotten the memo?

Dem leaders must have all the indesputable evidence in hand before they can call for an investigation.

:eyes:

[ProSense]

6. More stuff...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2660209&mesg_id=2660209

[Jeffersons Ghost]

7. Kicked and Recommended