Reply #8: Oregon St Daily Baromoter: Voting reform shouldn't be scary for Republican

[MelissaB]

Voting reform shouldn't be scary for Republicans

by Elizabeth Meyer
The Daily Barometer

couple weeks ago, California Sen. Barbara Boxer and Ohio Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones made history, evoking a law not used since the 19th century, as they objected to certifying George W. Bush as the winner in Ohio.

Sen. Boxer and Congresswoman Tubbs Jones both know that Bush will be declared president for four more years. They both understand that Bush probably won Ohio, and probably won the rest of the country. Their problem, along with the Congressional Black Caucus's problem, is that problems inherent in the voting process in Ohio are simply not being addressed, and that those problems led to disenfranchised voters, votes not being counted, and in some cases, votes not being cast at all.

The Ohio election, like the Florida election in 2000, highlights the problems with voting in America. In Ohio, the exit polls didn't match the results. In Ukraine, that was one of the indicators of a fraudulent election, pointed out, ironically, by U.S. officials. But back at home, it's a statistical error.

In Ohio, some voters stood in line for 10 hours to vote. This was caused, according to Knight-Ridder papers, by the misallocation of voting machines. Rather than being sent out to precincts where record-breaking voter turnout was expected, working machines were kept in warehouses on Election Day. The long lines were all in areas that tend to vote Democrat.

Perhaps the most bizarre irregularity was in Warren County, where public observers were barred from watching the counting process, based on a terrorist threat from the FBI. The FBI denies that it ever released such a threat.

More: http://barometer.orst.edu/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/01/18/41ed583a01eb1